


Terra Solace

by DinerGuy, frankie_mcstein



Category: Terra Nova (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I just want all the things, Silly FOX for cancelling the thing, Terra Nova Season Two, Whump, Why can we not have all of this goodness on actual television, adorable Shannons, because we all know the story didn’t end with the show, is that too much to ask, teamfic, virtual season
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-10 11:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11125902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DinerGuy/pseuds/DinerGuy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankie_mcstein/pseuds/frankie_mcstein
Summary: Sequel to the finale. The people of Terra Nova are left to pick up the pieces when they find themselves cut off from 2149. But even as they try to move forward, trouble is brewing. Can Jim and Taylor keep the colony together without falling victim to those still scheming to take it down? Are they truly cut off from the future forever, or will those intent on reaching them succeed? And what did the Phoenix soldiers hope to find in the Badlands anyway?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So years ago, when the show first ended, we started plotting out ideas of what could have happened. Thanks to life, we had to leave it alone for quite a while, but we’d periodically go, “Hey, remember that one thing we plotted that one time?” Anyway, we recently got around to actually writing words, and it’s finally ready to share. Hopefully this does the show justice.
> 
> Disclaimer: Standard one applies. Even though FOX doesn’t seem to want it, Terra Nova and all of its characters do still belong to them, and so we’re just borrowing.
> 
> SPOILERS INSIDE! Okay... so we did say it was a sequel. But just to cover our bases, there are major spoilers for the Terra Nova finale. So if you're just finding the show and working your way through it (hey, nothing wrong with that; we do it all the time!) don't read this fic until you've watched all the episodes. And then, you know, come back and let us know what you think of our continuation of the story!

_2159_

“And congratulations once again to our graduating class of 2159!”

The auditorium erupted in cheers and applause. The young men and women in their caps and flowing gowns stood to face the crowd, smiling exuberantly. Once the audience had quieted, the emcee spoke again.

“Thank you all. It means a great deal to us here at the university that you came to the ceremony. We hope you all have a wonderful evening. Good night.”

As soon as they were dismissed, the graduates hurried to join their families and friends, and the room soon filled with small groups of smiling, laughing people. One of the group, however, lingered behind. She descended the stage steps slowly, watching the rest of the room with a look of longing on her face. A few of her classmates stopped to congratulate her, and one girl patted her shoulder knowingly and gave her a hug before waving goodbye and moving to join a group waiting nearby. The lone graduate moved to the side of the room, finding an empty seat and sinking into it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tattered photograph. The worn, creased piece of paper had seen much better days, but the girl didn’t seem to mind. She put a finger to the image of a little girl and a smiling woman who looked very similar to herself. Sighing, she lifted her finger from the photo to wipe a tear from her eye. “I wish you were here, Mom,” she whispered.

“Excuse me, Sienna.”

The unexpected voice from behind her made her jump in surprise, and she quickly covered the picture with her hand. She looked up at the man who was standing a few feet from her chair and blinked as she looked him up and down. “Can I help you?” she asked curiously.

She’d never seen this man before in her life. He was tall and thin, with a bald head and clean-shaven face. Impeccably dressed in a light suit and tie, he smiled at her kindly. His dark skin was a tone lighter than her own, and his dark eyes held something she couldn’t quite read. Nothing about him was suspicious; rather, he exuded an air of friendliness and warmth.

“I’m sure this is odd,” he continued, “a stranger walking up to you, knowing your name and all.”

Sienna shrugged. “I figured you’d seen me walking across the stage when they called my name. I just don’t know what I can do for you.”

“Ah. Yes. May I?” the man gestured to the empty chair beside her.

With a shrug, she shifted and replaced the photograph in her pocket. She didn’t reply, but the man took her gesture as an invitation and sat beside her. For a moment, they both remained quiet, and the silence hung heavily around them. Then the man cleared his throat and began.

“I suppose I should introduce myself,” he said. “My name is Henry Tomkins. I know you don’t know me, but I know a lot about you.” That got her attention, and he chuckled lightly at the look she gave him. “Ah, yes, well, we have been watching you for quite some time.”

“Who is we?”

“Look, we know your mother went to Terra Nova on the Sixth Pilgrimage,” he told her. “You were young and sick, and she feared you would forget her, but she couldn’t bring you along. Ever since she went through, however, she’s been determined to get you there.”

Sienna snorted at that. “Yeah, but there’s no way back anymore. Not since that gas leak at Hope Plaza that destroyed every hope of anyone else ever getting there.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice and practically bit out the second sentence. “That’s why I got my degree,” she informed him. “I’m going to figure out another way back.”

“Yes, well,” Henry shifted and gave her a long look, “what if I told you there was no gas leak?”

“What?”

“Mhm. A crew took over Hope Plaza, and the gas leak was their cover story.” Henry nodded. “There were people with ulterior motives who wanted to harvest the abundance of the past to make a fortune here in the present. It would have resulted in the undoing of everything for which Terra Nova stands, and there were those opposed to it. Unfortunately, they did not succeed in stopping the plot.” He smiled at his next thought. “However, the colonists were a force with which to be reckoned -- and one the greedy moguls did not take into account. As far as we can tell, Terra Nova stopped the threat, for no one has come out of Hope Plaza, much less have they unloaded any wealth of natural resources.”

Sienna blinked. “Okay… but what does this have to do with me?”

“Look around you, Sienna. Things have gotten so bad that the government moved much of the population into as many domes as they could manage to construct. Those poor souls who didn’t win the lottery were given breathing apparatuses and wished good luck. But even in the domes, it’s getting crowded and terrible, and food will eventually run out.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “But we have a plan to get back to set all of this right.”

“You didn’t answer my question. And look, although this has all been really interesting,” Sienna told the man, pushing to her feet, “I don’t have time to listen to this. I have places to be.”

“The people behind the assault on Terra Nova were using you against your mother,” Henry stated.

Sienna froze. She didn’t turn, but her pause was enough for Henry.

“Help us, Sienna. And you can see your mother again.”

* * *

_Terra Nova_

The sun broke on the colony from behind dark clouds that had obscured the moon and stars for most of the night. The day dawned clear and crisp, with that fresh smell that comes after a storm as severe as the rain that had passed through overnight. It was as if the universe was smiling on this marooned group of humans who had woken to the realization that none of them had dreamed the events of the past days. This truly was their reality; there was no way back to the future from which they had come. For better or worse, this was now their permanent home. As the early morning air began to warm, the citizens of Terra Nova began stirring and moving about their daily chores and duties. Life went on, regardless of who or what they had lost.

In one of the homes lining the streets inside of the colony’s walls, Elisabeth Shannon was just closing the front door quietly behind her. From the sofa in the middle of the room, Jim looked up as he heard his wife’s footsteps and the _click_ of the door closing. “Hey, beautiful,” he greeted, smiling as she turned and caught sight of him. “How was your night?”

“Ah, exhausting.” She ran a hand through her dark hair as she slowly crossed the room, her steps and posture communicating just how accurate her answer was. Jim had moved over on the sofa to make room beside him, and she sank into the seat gratefully. “We’re still trying to get a handle on all of the injuries.” She sighed heavily, and the weight resting on her was unmistakable.

Jim sat up and gently brushed her hair over her shoulder, then began massaging her back, letting her sit in silence as she processed her night.

“I just don’t know how we can keep going, Jim,” Elisabeth said quietly, leaning into his touch. “There are so many people in need, and even once they recover, there are always those who are sick or who get injured from various accidents around this place…” She trailed off and turned to look straight at Jim. “How are we going to care for them all if we have no access to more supplies?”

He lowered his hands and gave her a small, encouraging smile. “I know it’s a lot,” he agreed, “but you are the smartest person I know. If anyone can figure out a solution to this problem, it’s you.”

“Mmm.” She nodded slowly. “Malcolm has been working on deriving medications from some of the new species of plants we’ve discovered. We just need to speed up our research.”

“Yeah, well,” Jim shrugged, “I guess Malcolm isn’t too bad after all.” He chuckled at the look she gave him. “Honey, trust me. With you two on the case, we will all be fine.” He winked.

Elisabeth couldn’t hold back a laugh at her husband’s expression. She kissed him, then pulled back and stood. “I suppose I should be getting showered and changed. We’ve got that town meeting this morning.” Barely hiding a yawn, she looked toward the back of the house. “We’ll need to get the kids up soon.”

“Ah, let them sleep a little longer.” Jim stood beside his wife and rubbed her back. “They’ve been through a lot.”

She nodded silently, and they just stood there quietly for a moment, drawing on each other’s strength with the knowledge that some of the hardest days of their lives were ahead of everything they had already experienced. Then the silence was broken by a little voice from behind them.

“Mommy?”

Elisabeth turned and smiled at her youngest daughter. “Yes, Zoe?”

“I’m hungry.”

Jim and Elisabeth exchanged smiles before parting. While Elisabeth headed for the kitchen to assist Zoe, Jim walked over to knock on the bedroom doors to rouse the other two Shannon children. Within an hour, the whole family was dressed and fed and strolling down the road towards the colony’s main square. Zoe was holding her mother’s hand, swinging it as she walked and chattered away about the newest dinosaur she had seen from behind the fence. The others in her family were a little more subdued, their minds occupied with the reason for the meeting for which they were headed and the memories of everything that had happened recently. Everywhere anyone looked, reminders of the tragedy were everywhere, from crumbled buildings to tire tracks in the mud.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the large area where many of their neighbors and coworkers were already gathered. Jim glanced around the crowd, nodding in acknowledgment as a young woman about Josh’s age caught his eye and waved; he glanced over and saw that Josh had noticed Skye as well, and Jim raised an eyebrow at his wife when he noticed the expression that crossed their son’s face. Elisabeth smirked back at him, before turning her attention to the man who had just walked up beside them.

“Malcolm, hi,” she greeted.

“Elisabeth. Jim,” Malcolm greeted them. His voice, carrying the same British accent as Elisabeth’s, was strained with fatigue. “Good to see you.”

The low murmur of conversation among the gathered colonists faded away as the door to Taylor’s office swung open. The building had survived the brunt of the damage done to it, and Taylor was utilizing the platform outside of the raised building to give his address in the same way he had given dozens of speeches over the years Terra Nova had existed. Taylor was noticeably limping as he walked up to the railing and put out a hand to lean against it. Only a few people knew what had happened in the jungle two days before, and only a few more knew of the severity of the wound that the commander had sustained from his own son’s betrayal. It was a larger group than Taylor would have preferred, but that couldn't be helped. Skye was tough, but when Taylor had collapsed on her due to the trauma and blood loss, she'd had no choice but to call for help. Dunham and Reilly had come on the double to carry their leader back to the waiting medical team at the camp. Everyone who was aware of Taylor’s actual condition -- not the facade he presented to the colony -- had all advised him against speaking, pressing that he should be resting and regaining his strength, but he was having none of it. The people needed to hear from their leader.

Someone coughed, pulling Taylor from his thoughts. He looked across the gathered group and cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming,” he began. “As you all are well aware, Terra Nova has been through a lot recently. I have you all to thank for us coming through it to where we are now. I know it has not been without sacrifice.” He looked around, letting the statement sink in. “I know each of you have lost people you cared about. Family, friends. But I want you to know that their sacrifices were not in vain. We are where we are today -- free and able to carry on -- because of them. We will never forget the brave men and women lost to violence perpetrated by those who would have exploited this world we have come to love for their own gain.” Taylor held out his hand, and a soldier beside him handed him a flex. The digital screen flickered as Taylor tapped on it, then the commander looked back to the people listening to him. “We honor the memories of Captain Barrett Adams, Private Stephen Andrews, Corporal Maria Alston, Annie Arroyo, Luis Arroyo, Sonja Arroyo…”

As Taylor continued to read his list of names, the complete silence of those listening was punctuated only by a muted sniffle or muffled sob. The emotions of the past weeks had taken a toll on everyone, between the tragedy of the suicide bomber at the Eleventh Pilgrimage to the Phoenix Group’s occupation to the casualties of the resistance. Hearing the names of those who had been killed was more than many could handle stoically.

Jim looked over at his son as Kara’s name was read out. Josh clenched his jaw and stared straight ahead. He was a strong young man, but he had lost his girlfriend just as he thought they would finally be reunited. Kara had been one of the victims at the portal, and that was the last thing to which anyone needed to be subjected. It was a lot to handle, especially for someone as young as Josh. Jim felt a small twinge of guilt that he hadn’t been able to do more to protect Kara when the bomb had gone off at the portal, even though the logical part of his mind told him that there was nothing more he could have done. He had grabbed her and run as soon as he saw the bomb, covering her with his own body as the blast went off, but it hadn’t been enough. Kara’s small frame couldn’t have withstood the fiery explosion or the shock wave; Jim himself had been in a coma for three days and almost died from the trauma.

“…Lieutenant Alicia Washington…”

Jim felt another wave of emotion at the sound of that name. If it hadn’t been for Wash, Jim and his family might be on that list themselves. It was only because of Wash’s distraction that they had ever escaped the colony and the clutches of Lucas and The Phoenix Group. Wash’s willingness to do something she knew would surely result in her capture and execution would stay with Jim always. A hand slipped into his, and Jim glanced over to give his wife a small smile before turning his attention back to Taylor.

“…Harris Yoder, and Trevor Zimmerman.” Taylor handed the flex back to the soldier beside him and put his hand back on the railing. “All of these people were taken from us much too soon,” he addressed the crowd. “Let’s observe a moment of silence in their memories.” With that, he bowed his head.

The soldiers beside Taylor followed suit, and at their example, the rest fell quiet as well. There was a bit of muffled shuffling, and a baby cried from the back of the crowd, only to be quickly hushed by its mother. Overall, though, not a sound could be heard. After a brief stretch of silence, Taylor lifted his chin and looked out across the men, women, and children who were watching him. “Now, if this were any other time, I would give them all a proper salute, but as we lost our connection with 2149 when the portal was destroyed, we are going to have to conserve our supplies because we can’t replenish them. However,” and he nodded to one of the men on the ground, “we do have fireworks. They were being saved for the anniversary celebration later on, but this seems like a more fitting use for them.”

There was a murmur of agreement from among the gathered colonists, and then Taylor stepped back with his face to the sky. The others took his cue, and soon rockets started streaking up into the air. It was not as brilliant as it might have been had night fallen already, but the colors and lights were still clearly visible above Terra Nova. The crackle of the fireworks was the only sound that could be heard beyond a few quiet reactions among the observers. Some stood with their hands over their hearts, while others clenched their fists at their sides. A few embraced each other as they watched the explosions above them.

It took some time for the fireworks display to be completed, and once it had, a ripple of applause started near the back of the gathering. It grew in strength as more people joined in, and it soon had swelled to a roar of thunderous applause. Taylor waited for the clapping to begin to taper off before he raised a hand and cleared his throat. “Now, on to the rest of the business at hand. I know a lot of you are angry and upset over what happened, and honestly, I don’t blame you. There was a lot of heartache and betrayal, and I don’t want to minimize any of the emotions any of you are feeling. However,” he continued, looking around, “we also must realize that we are now all that each other has. There is no Hope Plaza in 2149 who can send us supplies or more manpower. That means that this place, for better or worse, is our home now and we have to band together to make it last.

“And yes, I know, 2149 betrayed us, but being mad about it won't help. We need to work together because if we want to survive, we have to continue living. We are our own future now.” And then he grinned at his next thought. “Speaking of which, I want to encourage anyone who is so inclined to start families of their own,” he said. “Without children, we can't last past the current generations already living. So I hope to be invited to some weddings before the summer is up,” he concluded, prompting a smattering of chuckles from his audience. He paused a moment before continuing, “Also, all able-bodied colonists will undergo training to help hold the walls in the event of an attack from any source, human or natural. I know it isn’t exactly what you came to Terra Nova hoping to learn, but it is a necessary fact of our lives now.”

He leveled a stern look that said there would be no room for argument with his next statement. "I will be allowing any Sixers who want to come back to the colony to do so under certain conditions.” He raised a hand as an undercurrent of murmuring began. “However much we would wish otherwise, our link to 2149 is gone. There is no way for them to go back, so there should be no reason for them to continue to harass the colony. I’ve already spoken to several who are willing to rejoin us for the sake of survival.

“Now, this doesn’t mean their transgressions will be immediately forgiven,” Taylor clarified. “I will allow them to return under certain conditions, including a probationary period, during which they will remain under guard. They will be assigned to labor teams doing structural repairs and agricultural work. This is not to humiliate anyone but rather to offer the chance to prove they can be trusted. There will be a residential status review at the end of the year.”

Jim glanced around the crowd as Taylor explained his plan for the Sixers. Anger was clear on many faces, while others looked conflicted as to how they felt about it. Making a mental note of those who seemed the most resentful, Jim looked at his family, noting with relief that Elisabeth and the girls seemed genuinely interested in Taylor’s plan. Although Jim did notice Maddy glancing over her shoulder several times toward one of the young soldiers standing near the perimeter of the crowd. Jim hid a smirk and looked from his oldest daughter to his son. Josh’s thoughts were hard to read; Jim would need to find time to talk to his son sooner rather than later. There would be enough turmoil in the colony as it was; he didn’t need it coming from his own family as well.

“A benefit to these new residents joining us is that they can assist us with what I know is a concern for many of you: food and medicine. While we do have many talented men and women in our midst, the knowledge that the Sixers can bring of herbs and plants we have yet to discover ourselves will be of great value to us as we create our own future without the assistance of Hope Plaza.”

A smattering of murmurs ran through the crowd, mixed between approval and reticence.

“Now, I realize that these next months are going to be tough,” Taylor spoke, “and I wish there were some way to make it easier for you all. But look at what we’ve faced already! I have complete confidence in the people of Terra Nova. You are a resilient group of people who came here for a better future. There have been troubles, and we will surely have more hard days ahead, but I know that we will look back on this as a time when our community was built stronger than ever, and we will not give up on creating a world where our children and their children can live in safety and peace. Thank you all.”

Taylor’s conclusion was met with a chorus of cheers and applause, which continued for a solid minute before folks began to break off into groups to talk amongst themselves or to head off for various homes and workplaces. Jim eyed one particular group of men who seemed to be a little more hostile than the others, noticing that it was comprised mostly of people who had appeared to be angriest at Taylor's announcement regarding the Sixers. He would need to mention them to Taylor; it would be worth keeping an eye on them, at least for the next few weeks.

Then a hand on his elbow drew his attention back to his family. Elisabeth patted his shoulder as she spoke to their children. “Your father and I have a full day today, so let’s all be on our best behavior, okay? Josh, you’d said you’re working with Boylan today?”

“Yeah,” Josh replied with a nod. “We’re working on getting the bar back to normal.”

“Okay, be safe,” she told him. As he nodded and headed off, Elisabeth turned to the girls. “And Maddy, you’ll make sure Zoe gets to school safely?”

“And then I’ll be heading to the lab to help there,” Maddy finished. She reached for her sister’s hand. “Come on, Zoe.”

“But I want to help, too,” the little girl protested with a pout.

Jim squatted down to look his daughter in the eye. “Oh you do, do you?” He reached out and poked her tummy, prompting a small smirk as she tried to keep her giggle inside. “Well I heard that they need more kids at school,” he told her, raising an eyebrow.

Even though she didn’t say anything in response, her eyes widened ever so slightly as she considered his statement.

“Oh yeah,” Jim continued. “See, I think there are some scared kids in Terra Nova, and somebody has to be brave to help them know everything is going to be okay. I wonder where we can find someone who can show the other kids how to get back to normal…” He glanced up at his wife, who was smiling as she watched him. “Do you know where we could find someone like that?”

Zoe bounced on her toes. “I can do it, Daddy!”

“Are you sure? It’s a big job for such a little girl.”

“I can do it!” she told him, nodding emphatically.

Smiling in approval, Jim patted her shoulder. “Oh good!” he replied. “I can tell Commander Taylor he can rest easy about the school; Zoe Shannon has it all under control.”

She grabbed for Maddy’s hand. “Come on; we have to go before the other kids all get there!”

“Whoa, okay, Zoe!” Maddy exclaimed as her little sister started pulling her toward the path towards the school. “I guess I’ll see you guys later,” she told her parents with a wave before turning her attention back to Zoe, who was still attempting to tow Maddy toward the school building. “Hang on; wait for me!”

Elisabeth watched the girls run off down the path, then she turned and stood tiptoe to plant a kiss on her husband’s cheek. “I’d better go, too. Be safe today,” she finished, pointing a finger at him before heading for the hospital.

“Bye, honey. Have a good day.” Jim turned for the stairs up to Taylor’s office, nearly running into Skye as he did so. “Oh, excuse me.”

She took a quick step backward. “No, excuse me. I’m in your way; I’m sorry.”

“Is everything okay?” he asked. He watched her carefully as she considered his question. Abrupt as Taylor’s version of what had happened in the jungle with Lucas had been, Jim had been able to read between the lines and knew that there was a lot weighing on the young woman in front of him.

Instead of opening up at all, she just shook her head. “No, I’m good. Thanks.”

“Okay then.” Jim wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t press the issue. “See you around, Skye.” With that, he moved to the stairs and put a hand on the railing to head up. He glanced back to see Skye had moved off towards the other side of the square, but she was going slowly and kept glancing over her shoulder. She caught Jim’s gaze and offered a small smile before quickly turning and walking off. Jim frowned curiously; something was going on there. If he had to guess, it had to do with the strained relationship that now existed between Skye and Taylor, who had been her legal guardian for several years after her parents had supposedly died in a fever outbreak. Recently, Taylor had learned that Skye’s mother was still alive and being cared for by the Sixers and that Skye had been spying in trade for the Sixers working to save her mother’s life. Jim honestly wasn’t sure things would ever get back to how they had been between the commander and Skye, but he knew she hoped they could mend their fences at least to some degree. Jim shook his head. For the moment, there were more pressing matters regarding Terra Nova that needed attention. A counseling session could come later.

Nodding to the two men standing guard outside of Taylor’s door, Jim pushed the door open and stepped inside. It took his eyes a moment to adjust from the bright sunlight outside to the slightly dimmer interior, but when they did, he immediately noticed Taylor’s posture. The commander was seated in a chair beside the table that held a large digital display, but he was not sitting straight and stoic as usual. Rather, he was hunched over, leaning to the right with a hand on his side; his face was unreadable as he sat lost in thoughts that Jim could only guess.

Jim cleared his throat, and Taylor immediately straightened and gave the younger man a strained smile. “Jim,” Taylor greeted. He sounded tired, Jim observed, no longer putting up the facade he had presented when speaking to the colony.

“Are you okay?” Jim asked. “Do you want me to call Elisabeth to come check you out again?”

Waving a hand in dismissal, Taylor shook his head. “No, no, that’s not necessary. I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be fine. Just need some time to heal.” He chuckled. “If I survived all the critters who tried to take me down so far, I’m sure I’ll survive this.”

Not quite convinced but not wanting to push the issue, Jim let out a breath and walked over to join Taylor. “Okay then. What’s our next move?”

“Well,” Taylor looked sideways at Jim, “the next few days are going to be the most critical for us. I want to hope that the good people of Terra Nova are as tenacious as I think they are, but we just never know what is going to happen with a human element involved. Especially with the emotions floating around that there are right now, you and I need to be extra vigilant to make sure everything stays peaceful.”

Jim nodded in agreement. “What about the Phoenix Group?” he asked, switching topics. “Are we going to do anything about them? I mean, for all we know, they’re regrouping in the Badlands and planning to try to take Terra Nova again.”

Raising an eyebrow in response, Taylor sighed and stood. He crossed to look out of the window in the far wall, and Jim stayed quiet as well as he waited for the older man to speak. There was a moment of silence, then Taylor sighed deeply. “We honestly just don’t have the manpower to spend on them right now. I wish we did, because who knows when they’ll return and, if they do, if they’ll try to retake the colony. They no longer have the support of Hope Plaza and reinforcements, but anything is possible when men get desperate.” He shook his head. “There are a dozen viable theories, but we need to focus on strengthening Terra Nova for whatever we’ll be facing next. For now, we’ll just store the piece of the ship that was found in the ‘Lands and get back to it as soon as we can.”

Jim nodded. “Will do. I’ll have the men move it this morning.”

“Jim.” Taylor’s voice stopped him. “You haven’t heard anything about Lucas, have you?”

Pausing, Jim studied Taylor’s face. Even with everything the younger man had done to Terra Nova and to Taylor, the commander was still just a father concerned about his son. Jim knew that Taylor would hold Lucas responsible for his crimes when it came to that, but the fact that no one knew anything of Lucas’s current status was weighing on Taylor. “No, sir; no one has seen or heard from Lucas since your confrontation in the jungle,” Jim said. “But I’ll make sure to keep an ear out.”

“Good.” Taylor nodded. “We’re having enough trouble with the outposts that have been losing power lately.”

“Mira?”

Taylor made a face at Jim’s question. “Most likely.”

There was no need to elaborate on the danger of losing multiple outposts when they couldn’t obtain any more supplies if needed. “Can we repair it?”

“For now,” Taylor responded. “But until we’re able to manufacture more electrical equipment, warn the men to be extra vigilant. We can’t afford to be left in the dark. Not now.”

* * *

Lucas grimaced as he leaned over to retrieve a stick from the ground in front of him. His shoulder was bothering him again, even beyond the pain that seemed to be with him constantly since Skye had shot him. The memory prompted a snarl from him as he remembered her betrayal in the jungle. How dare she have played him the way she had? She had goaded him along, feeding him exactly what he’d wanted to hear… He’d let himself be taken in by her beautiful face and her silver tongue about how much she no longer trusted or believed in their father. Even still, Lucas had managed to get away from her when those stupid soldiers of his father’s had left him with just Skye as a guard.

He’d resisted the urge to kill her right then, but perhaps again he had allowed his emotions to cloud his judgment. If he hadn’t left her unconscious on the ground, maybe his revenge on his father could have been complete. Granted, he’d been desperate to stop the colonists from destroying the link to 2149, and that had kept him from thinking clearly as well. If he had just taken one second to think it all through, he would have taken Skye’s weapon, and everything would have been over. But instead, she’d been able to wake up and radio Taylor -- another thing Lucas should have thought to take from Skye -- in time for the old man to waylay Lucas in the woods.

Wrapping his fingers around the chunk of wood, Lucas inspected it to make sure it was dry and usable for firewood. Nights in the jungle tended to get cold as well as treacherous, what with all the critters prowling around on the hunt, and Lucas had learned that a fire was the best defense against both of those dangers. He clenched the stick as he continued to stew over the series of events and poor decisions that had led to the demise of all that Lucas had been working to achieve. Literal years of his life were gone, lost to a ragtag group of colonists who should never have had the opportunity to rebel the way that they had.

Lucas shifted his grasp on the tall, twisted tree limb that he had fashioned into something of a crutch and turned slowly to limp back to the small camp he had set up -- and nearly ran into a woman who was standing directly behind him.

He stumbled backward in surprise, dropping his firewood and then groaning as he winced at the pain of the sudden movement. “Mira,” he gasped.

She didn’t respond, just kept her arms crossed as she glared darkly at him.

“What… what do you want?” Lucas asked her hesitantly. He didn’t move to recover his load, reluctant to give her an opening to try anything.

“What do I want?” she repeated harshly. “I want my daughter, Lucas. You promised me I could see Sienna again.”

Lucas chuckled hoarsely. “Well, we don’t always get what we want, now do we? I mean, look at me,” he gestured with his free hand. “I wanted to get rich off of this place and live in safety for the first time in years. I wanted control over those who had controlled me for years. I _wanted_ revenge on my father. I --”

“Enough!” Mira barked, loudly enough that a flock of birds took flight from the tree above the pair. She took a step forward, prompting Lucas to take one back. “You’re going to help me get back to my daughter.”

“What?” The statement was so crazy, even for Mira, that it caught Lucas by complete surprise.

“I know Taylor has a way back to 2149,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Those Phoenix soldiers may think they’re trapped here, but I know better. Taylor may be an arrogant fool, but he’s smarter than that. You’re going to get me into Terra Nova so I can finally get back to Sienna.”

“Um, I hate to break it to you, but he did. There _is_ no fracture anymore. It’s gone, okay?” Lucas shook his head. “Don’t you think I would have figured out how to get back there if I could have? Jim Shannon destroyed Hope Plaza. It’s gone.”

Mira was nearly shaking with anger as she listened to him, and Lucas could see it in her eyes that she was close to snapping completely. “You’re lying,” she said icily. Then without warning, she reached down and yanked a large knife from a sheath on her belt. “And you’re going to help me _now._ ”

“Okay, okay, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Lucas put up a hand quickly, wincing as it pulled at his side. His mind was spinning, trying to work out a way to extricate himself from this predicament. “Fine, okay,” he sighed.

“Okay?”

He nodded reluctantly. “Look, I was trying to keep this to myself until I could figure it out completely, but there’s a cave not too far from here with a high level of mineral deposits in the walls.” He still hadn’t lowered his hand, and he was panting heavily at this point. Ignoring the sweat starting to drip from his hairline, he continued, “I think it can replace the devices that controlled the opening in both the plaza and outside of Terra Nova.”

Mira’s raised eyebrow told him she was listening.

“The only problem,” he added slowly, “is that there’s lots of rubble blocking up the entrance, and as you can see, I’m not in any condition to clear it. But if I had some help…”

“Don’t be silly; I’m not doing your dirty work for you,” Mira snapped. “You’ll just have to figure it out.” She waved the knife threateningly at him. Then a cold grin spread across her face. “I have an idea.”


	2. Chapter 2

_2159_

“How can you get my mother back?” Sienna asked, turning to look at Henry. “She’s stuck years and years in the past now that Hope Plaza and the fracture are gone.”

He smiled. “What if I told you that second part might not be true?”

Unsure of what to make of the man’s comment, Sienna stood chewing on the inside of her cheek for a long moment. She felt torn between writing him off as crazy and wanting to learn what he meant. He did know an awful lot about her to just be a kook, so she decided to at least hear him out. “I’m listening.” 

“Here, come sit down again,” he invited, patting the seat next to him. “I didn’t mean to scare you off earlier; I’m sorry.”

She didn’t move. “I’m willing to hear you out for now, but I reserve the right to leave with no warning.”

“Fair enough,” he conceded, putting his hand back on his knee. “So the ‘we’ I mentioned is a top secret group, the knowledge of which is restricted only to a small circle of those involved either in the work itself or in funding it. We, uh, weren’t satisfied with the idea that no one could ever reach the past again and that we’re all doomed after the loss of Hope Plaza. So we decided to form our own group to recreate the portal with the intent of going back to help Commander Taylor when he got through the first time.” The look on his face told her he was evaluating her reaction to the knowledge he had just shared.

Sienna wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but that was nowhere near even her wildest guess. The disbelief must have been evident on her face because Henry chuckled.

“Sorry, I know, it’s a lot. We managed to secure some decent funding from interested parties. After all, not everyone with deep pockets just wants to make more money wherever they can. Some of them are still concerned with getting themselves and their families to a brave new world.” He shrugged. “Most of us skipped the lottery gatherings so we wouldn’t get into the domes and could come and go as we need to. Half of the team are scientists and medics, so we have access to some state-of-the-art equipment.” At Sienna’s questioning look, he added, “Of course some was taken for use in the domes, but only a fraction can fit, so much was left behind that we were able to procure.”

“So you’re all working out of Hope Plaza? Isn’t anyone suspicious?” Sienna wanted to know.

Henry shook his head. “Hope Plaza was completely unusable for our purposes. Oh, we tried getting in there to set up shop, figuring that the news about a radiation leak was just a diversionary tactic. We were right about that, but most of what was inside was reduced to rubble from multiple explosions at some point -- and most likely what sealed off the fracture.” He shook his head. “Even though the place was unusable, we found another warehouse to set up shop. We’re still working and almost there, but we still have a long way to go.

“We still needed a steady stream of supplies, so some of us… well, we gamed the lottery. We needed a guarantee we’d get into the domes to funnel supplies and information back to those working on Terra Solace -- that’s what we’re calling this project,” he explained. “Those of us in the domes have also been tasked with recruiting promising candidates to our ranks. That’s where you come in,” he nodded to her, “and we hope you will join us. We’ve been keeping an eye on you ever since we learned how critical a role your mother had played in the attack on Terra Nova.”

“What?” Sienna’s eyes widened.

“Oh… you hadn’t heard.” It was an observation, not a question. “I’m so sorry, Sienna,” Henry said softly. “The people who were planning to strip mine the world where Terra Nova exists used you to get your mother to help them. She was desperate to save you, so she did whatever they asked. But now,” he smiled. “Now you have a chance to make all of that right.”

She was still standing, and she shifted her weight to her other foot as she regarded him seriously. “Why should I believe you?” She wasn’t sure if she wanted to believe him. Did she really want to know that all of her lonely teenage years were not because her mother was building a better life for them in Terra Nova but that her mother was contributing to its downfall? And all because of Sienna? “And why would you want me anyway? Didn’t my mother do enough damage to your precious Terra Nova?”

“Of course we want you,” Henry was quick to assure her. “Your grades are phenomenal! I’m sure you’ve been told you’re a genius by so many people, but you _are_ . You’ve graduated university years ahead of your peers, and your research work is already being noticed by those in the field. Sienna, we don’t just want you. We _need_ you.”

“Mhm.” She still wasn’t ready to commit, and so she tucked her interest away where it wouldn’t show as she pressed him further. “What’s your plan, then? Go to Terra Nova and help them rebuild? Use me to find my mother and ask her to stop?”

Henry chuckled. “Oh no, Sienna. Our plans are so much broader than that. I guess you could say we are planning to help Terra Nova, but we won’t be showing up after all of the events that nearly destroyed it. No.” He paused. “We’re going back to stop it from ever happening.” He stood and gestured as he grew more excited about his explanation. “We wouldn’t be going into the midst of the war for Terra Nova. Instead, we’re going to before Terra Nova ever existed!”

Somehow, this conversation kept surprising her.

“See, not many people know this, but Commander Taylor went through the portal at Hope Plaza first, ahead of anyone else. He ended up living in that prehistoric world for 118 days before anyone else joined him.” Henry stepped forward to level a firm look at Sienna. His eyes searched hers as he concluded, “Our plan is to reach him at the beginning of those 118 days. If we can advise Taylor of the events of the future, we can save the past. Plus, we’ll bring supplies and a team to help him start the settlement, hopefully heading off some of the sicknesses and struggles that those early colonists faced. Sienna,” he added, “please help us. We need you and your genius.”

She hesitated just a moment. Part of her wanted to call the man crazy and leave, but another part--the part that longed to see her mother again -- wanted to leap headlong into this adventure being proposed to her. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she looked back to Henry. “Okay,” she said. “I’m in.”

* * *

_Terra Nova_

Jim dropped into bed with a heartfelt sigh. Life wasn’t exactly easy at the moment, and it felt like everyone was suffering from midnight oil syndrome. His wife was working the night shift -- again -- and even his kids were busy running every which way. Josh was currently working late helping put Boylan’s back together. Maddy was spending the night doing something clever in one of the labs, and although she’d tried to explain it to him, he’d gotten lost somewhere between “ensure” and “supply.” It had something to do with food -- at least, he was pretty sure it did.

Jim rolled to his side, not even bothering to pull the blanket up. He’d been working what seemed like non-stop since the occupation by the Phoenix Group, and his tired mind was telling him quite firmly that little things like blankets just weren't important. He managed an entire hour of blissfully uninterrupted sleep before something filtered through to him. A small, tear-filled voice was calling something, and the only person in the house with him was Zoe.

Jim was out of bed before he even really realized he was awake, Zoe's quiet call of “Daddy?” getting him moving quicker than caffeine in any form could ever manage. He hurried across to the largest bedroom and caught a brief glimpse of his youngest girl sitting bolt upright, tears streaking her face. Then he was sitting on the bed, holding her close and rubbing her back. Coming back to his family after those long nights in Golad only to feel like he wasn't needed had cut him like a knife and, despite the events of the past year, some small, selfish part of him reveled in feeling like a father again.

Finally, slowly, Zoe's sobs became small hiccups, but Jim kept on hugging her tightly until she pulled away. “Daddy? Do you remember Poppy?”

“Of course I do! At one point reading that book to you was the only way to get you to go sleep.” He laughed, remembering all the nights he had come home bone weary only to sit and read _Peter and Poppy_ to a fractious baby girl.

“We couldn't bring it.” Zoe’s voice was quiet. “We had to leave lots of things behind so no one would know I was coming too.”

Jim felt his heart break as his baby sighed, a sigh too big for her small frame, and he pulled her close again. “Well, luckily I was the one who always read _Poppy_ to you,” he said with a grin. He shifted back along the bed until his back was resting against the headboard, and Zoe tucked in so that her head was resting comfortably against his chest. “‘It all happened a long time ago, so long ago that the moon still shone every night.’”

“Like it does now?”

“Right, just like it does now. ‘People said the moon was the friend of the lost traveler, that she would shine through the darkest of nights and lead them to safety.’” Even as Zoe’s eyes soon started to flutter, Jim continued on, telling the story he had known by heart for years now. His mind carried him back to his cell where he had ended every day by whispering the words of the story with his eyes tightly closed and imagining his family was around him. But with a soft kiss on the top of his daughter’s head, Jim easily forced himself out of the past and to the present where he was no longer separated from those he loved most.

He started to extricate himself from the blankets on Zoe’s bed, then paused when she sighed and snuggled in closer. With a small smile to himself, he shifted again, only inward this time so that he could lie down beside her. Jim reached up to click off the lamp on the bedside table and fell asleep with his arm around his little girl.

But before he knew it, his deep slumber was interrupted by a sharp knocking at the door. He blinked, noting the light that was filtering in through the window. He was tempted to ignore whoever it was and turn over in the bed, but then he heard the door creak open in the other room as low voices began murmuring.

Jim sighed and looked down at Zoe, curled up with her little fist tucked under her head. She looked so peaceful; Jim envied the innocence of childhood that kept his daughter protected from the worries and cares the adults were juggling. Before the knocking could come again, he quietly got up from the mattress, being careful not to jostle Zoe, then padded his way into the main room. He yawned and rubbed a hand over his face, absently noting the stubble growing along his jawline.

“Jim,” Taylor spoke as soon as Jim had appeared through the bedroom doorway.

Elisabeth gave him a weary smile from where she had been conversing with the commander. “Good morning, sunshine.”

“Morning.” Jim nodded to both of them.

Putting a hand on Jim’s shoulder, Elisabeth gave him a kiss on the cheek then stepped towards the other side of the house. “I’m going to grab some shuteye. Be safe.”

“Will do,” Jim told her. Then he turned his attention back to Taylor. “What’s wrong?”

“I am sorry to have to wake you, but we have an emergency,” Taylor said. “One of the outposts was just attacked.”

That got Jim’s attention. “What? By who? Is everyone okay?”

Taylor held up a hand. “We don’t know yet. A pack of some sort of critters ambushed the science team; I’d guess Nykoraptors, but it really doesn’t matter what it was. Fact is, we have to get out there and rescue those scientists. Gadsden said they’d managed to hole up in one of the labs but that Jordan was seriously injured in the attack. If we don’t get out there soon, he might not make it.”

“Understood,” Jim replied with a quick nod. “Meet you at the gate in ten.”

“Make it five.”

Jim and Taylor were soon roaring toward the treeline at the edge of the clearing surrounding the colony. The jungle closed in around them as they headed for the outpost where the team had initially gone to research a new type of flowering herb they had discovered. Jim glanced behind them at the rapidly disappearing gates of Terra Nova.

“Shouldn’t we bring back up?” he asked Taylor. “Just in case there’s a hungry pack of these things?”

Taylor smirked. “You scared of a little dinosaur, Shannon?”

“Well…” Jim coughed.

Taylor laughed. “Ordinarily, yes, I’d bring several more men along, but we can’t spare anyone from the colony. When Gadsden radioed, he said he thought the raptors had left because the scrabbling outside of the building had stopped for going on half an hour. With any luck, all we’re doing is functioning as a prehistoric taxi service.” He reached for the radio on the console beside the steering wheel. “Gadsden, we’re almost there. Can you relay your position for us to come carry Jordan out? Over.”

There was no reply, and Taylor frowned. “Gadsden,” he tried again. “Come in, Gadsden. Over.”

Still nothing.

“Gadsden! Relay your position. Over.”

Jim knew his expression mirrored Taylor’s worried one as he watched the commander frown. “Here, let me see,” he offered, taking the radio from Taylor. Jim turned it over in his hands, inspecting it for any sign of damage, but there was nothing out of the ordinary with the device. “The batteries seem fine… I wonder what’s going on?”

“Hopefully just interference,” Taylor said, although it was clear from his tone that even he didn’t believe the excuse. “I’ve got a little doohickey that should track the radio once we’re there. Regardless of if it’s malfunctioning, as long as the batteries are still in, we can find it.”

Then they were screeching to a halt outside of the fence surrounding the outpost. Right away, Jim noticed the gate was hanging ajar. He and Taylor shared a look, then both readied their weapons and started forward. Jim strode over to the gate to inspect it. He was looking for any signs of claw or teeth marks, but what he saw dropped his stomach even further. There were several clean cuts in the wires inside the control box that powered the latch and the electric fence. “Hey, come take a look at this!” he called to Taylor.

Taylor leaned in to inspect the latch of the wire fence. “Looks like someone’s been messing with this locking device. And by ‘someone,’ I mean someone human, not a dino,” he growled, straightening and looking around.

Jim stood beside him. “Do you think the Sixers are at it again?”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past Mira,” Taylor replied. “She could be causing trouble just to spite me. There’s no reason for her to stay on friendly terms with the colony, especially not now that she’s lost contact with 2149 the same as us.” Pushing the gate open all the way, Taylor raised his gun and stepped through. “Now let’s go find our guys.”

Jim was about to follow suit when there was a sudden screech from somewhere above the clearing. Both men instinctively looked upward in search of the source of the noise, but before either could make another move, a blur of green and brown launched itself at them. Jim barely had time to take in the two rows of razor sharp teeth and set of bared claws before the thing was coming right at his face.

He jerked his rifle up and let loose a quick volley of shots. Even through his adrenaline, he was well aware of the need to conserve ammunition, and so he fired just a short burst at the attacking dinosaur. The bullets drove it back a short distance, then the animal let out another sharp, reptilian shriek and turned to flee for the jungle. It paused as it saw the metal fence blocking its way back home. As if contemplating its situation, the raptor cocked its head for just a moment, then bounded for the fence and leaped the barrier in a single try.

“Never seen one do that before.” Jim had his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath, but he still managed to raise an eyebrow at Taylor.

“First time for everything,” was all Taylor responded before continuing for the outpost.

Now they trod even more cautiously, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of the raptor’s packmates. A twig snapped off to Jim’s right, and he whirled to take in that edge of the clearing. There was nothing there, not on either side of the fence, and he took a deep breath to steady himself. He glanced over at Taylor, who tilted his head in a gesture toward the outpost. When they reached the entrance, both immediately noticed two things:

One, there were deep grooves running up and down the entirety of the metal door.

And two, that door was not closed all the way.

“They must have figured out a way inside,” Taylor muttered darkly.

Jim knew the commander was thinking of Gadsden’s radio silence, but neither man voiced that concern aloud. “Okay, how do we do this?” Jim asked.

“We have to assume that at least one raptor is inside,” Taylor said firmly. “That means our priority is the science team’s safety. We split up, go room to room, find our people, and leave.”

“Okay.” Jim let his rifle hang from its shoulder strap as he unholstered his sidearm to check that it was loaded and ready to go. Then he replaced the smaller weapon and pulled his rifle back up to double-check its status as well.

Taylor was just finishing doing the same, then looked over at Jim. “And remember, raptors are attracted to noise. We’ll have to maintain radio silence until the team has been located, and then we’ll have to get out _fast_.”

“Oh. Great.”

Then Taylor stepped forward and quietly eased the door open. He stepped over the threshold with Jim right behind him, then held up a fist and paused. Turning to the younger man, he nodded toward the hallway on the far end of the small entrance. He pointed two fingers at it, then turned his gesture to himself and then to a second hallway at the other side of the room. He then circled his finger in the air and tilted his head to the entrance through which they had just come. Jim grinned and gave a thumbs-up and turned for the far hallway, leaving Taylor to shake his head in amusement before heading for the other doorway.

The front room had been light enough, but when Jim stepped into the hallway that Taylor had directed him to search, he found himself blinking to try to focus his eyes in the darkness. It wasn’t pitch-black -- for which Jim breathed a sigh of thanks because flashlights definitely would have attracted any raptors lurking nearby. But the lack of windows meant the only natural light was what filtered in from the front room, while the manmade light that illuminated the space existed in the form of rectangular sconces spaced along the length of the wall. At least half were no longer lit, and when Jim stepped closer to examine one of the darkened bulbs, glass crunched underfoot. He looked down, lifting a boot as he took in the broken glass that littered the floor. Looking back to the wall, he put a hand up to feel the grooves that claw marks had left in the plaster.

A muffled noise from somewhere up ahead grabbed his attention, and he lifted his rifle to his shoulder as he squinted for the source of the sound. Nothing was there, but Jim kept his gun up at the ready just in case. He carefully stepped off of the glass, taking care not to rustle it any more than was absolutely necessary. The broken pieces crunched dully as he removed his weight from atop them, then silence reigned in the hallway once again. Jim could hear his pulse pounding in his ears in the eery stillness. He took a deep breath to calm his heart rate then started down the passageway once again.

He froze in his tracks when something darted across the hallway in the darkness ahead of him. It was so quick that he almost missed it, but the skittering of claws on tile told him that there was definitely something lurking up ahead. Jim walked forward quickly but cautiously, stepping as carefully as he could in an attempt not to alert the creature that he was nearby -- although he was pretty sure the thing would be able to smell him coming if it hadn’t already. He took one step, then another, priding himself on how silently he was padding along.

And then his toe connected with something small and hard, sending it clattering down the corridor.

Jim’s eyes widened as he stopped mid-stride. He frantically searched the floor ahead of him, noticing with a sinking heart the radio that was now lying at a cast-off angle in the middle of the hallway. That explained why Gadsden hadn’t responded to Taylor’s hailing him earlier.

Realizing with a wave of relief that he hadn’t heard any sound from whatever creature he had seen earlier, Jim momentarily wondered if it had just been his imagination. He picked up the radio and tucked it into his pocket before starting forward again. There was a doorway opening off to his right, and he raised the barrel of his gun to point inside as he stepped into the room that was even more dimly lit than the hallway. Thankfully, there was nothing moving in the room, and he quickly scanned the stacks of crates along the walls and the work table in the center of the floor. The room was empty of any occupants -- dino, human, or otherwise -- and Jim breathed a small sigh of relief.

And then he jumped as his radio crackled to life in his ear.

“Shannon!” Taylor barked. “I’ve located Gadsden and Jordan in Lab Two! Jordan’s lost a lot of blood; we need to evacuate now.”

For what felt like the hundredth time since they’d arrived at the outpost, Jim breathed a sigh of relief. He turned for the doorway to head in the direction Taylor had gone, although the commander’s warning of raptors being attracted to sound ran through his mind and kept his rifle pointed up and ahead of him. The main concern at the forefront of his thoughts, however, was of getting to the other three as soon as possible. There didn’t seem to be any dinosaurs in the building, but there was no guarantee that one wouldn’t show up.

Just as he stepped into the hall, there was the sound of scrabbling claws from behind him. Jim whirled, catching the blur of something small and dark coming right at him.

His hasty jump backward in surprise nearly cost him his footing as whatever it was darted between his legs. There was more skittering in the hallway as it retreated, and Jim caught sight of a furry tail as a little animal disappeared around the far corner. He caught his breath as he chuckled in relief. The creature couldn’t have been bigger than a rabbit, and whatever it was, it was definitely _not_ a raptor. He tried to calm his nerves; this whole situation was creeping him out a little bit too much. He’d be more than happy when they were back on the rover and headed home. Once again, he turned to head for Taylor --

\-- only to freeze as a hiss echoed down the hallway.

“Shannon, where are you?”

“Uhh, a little busy right now,” Jim managed to whisper back in reply, even as he stared down the raptor that was stalking down the corridor. It was approximately as tall as he was, with bared fangs that looked like they could easily crunch through bone and a set of razor sharp claws on all four of its feet. The creature’s yellow eyes darted back and forth, keeping Jim in its sights as the man backed up a step, and then another. “Good news; I know where the dinosaur is now.”

As if on cue, the raptor snarled and launched itself forward in a charge, even as Taylor’s concerned yell of “Shannon!” came over the radio. Jim ducked inside the doorway of the empty room he had just exited. The raptor’s claws clattered on the tile as it skidded past the door, trying to stop itself but unable to keep its footing to execute such a quick maneuver. Dropping to his hands and knees, Jim quickly crawled behind the table and waited, trying to calm his breathing as the rapid-fire _click, click, click_ of the raptor’s feet came toward him.

Jim could hear the creature sniffing as it stepped inside the dark room, and he risked peeking around the side of the chair next to the table. The raptor had its head lowered as it searched for him in the darkness, and Jim took a deep breath. He had an idea, but he’d only have one shot at it. He could only hope that he’d be able to pull it off. Reaching slowly for the pocket of his jacket, he pulled out a small coin and clenched it in his fist. He internally counted to three, then tossed the metal object toward the far side of the room.

The coin clattered as it hit the floor, prompting a growl from the raptor as it leaped toward the sound.

Jim didn’t waste any time pushing up from the floor and darting for the doorway. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the raptor’s head jerking up at the quick movement, which only increased his speed in his mad scramble for the hallway. Grabbing the knob as he passed it, Jim slammed the door shut behind him, and just in time too. A split second later, the whole wall shook as the raptor slammed into the other side of the closed door.

An enraged shriek came from inside the room, but Jim didn’t wait around to see what happened next. He had no way to lock or barricade the door from the outside, and based on the state of the front door to the outpost, it would only be a matter of time before the raptor figured out this room had the same type of doorknob.

“Shannon! What is going on?” Taylor was almost yelling now.

“Coming your way!” Jim called back. “We gotta go. Now!”

A moment later, he rushed through the lab door and pulled up next to Taylor and the two scientists. “I locked it in a room down the other hallway, but I have no idea if it’ll stay put,” he explained breathlessly when Taylor raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

One of the scientists, the one who Jim guessed must be Gadsden based on his lack of injury, looked over from where he was fumbling to put containers into a canvas bag. “It’s still inside?”

Jim just nodded and stooped to help Taylor lift the unconscious Jordan from the floor. The man was pale, with a noticeable amount of blood staining both his pant leg and the shirt that was tied just under his knee. “Come on; we don’t have any time to waste.”

“But my samples --” Gadsden protested.

“Unless you want to be raptor chow, leave them and come on!” Taylor snapped. “Grab that gun and let’s go!”

Gadsden blinked, then nodded and snatched up his bag off the floor. He slung it over his left shoulder and grabbed the rifle that Taylor had indicated. He followed closely behind as Jim and Taylor raced as quickly as they could for the exit.

Jim kept glancing back, thinking he heard the sound of raptor claws coming toward them, but thankfully no reptiles appeared from the darkness. They made it to the rover and hurriedly loaded Jordan into the backseat. Taylor jumped in the driver’s seat and revved the engine as Jim ran back for a huffing and puffing Gadsden who was being slowed down by the weight of the overstuffed bag in his arms.

The shriek of a raptor echoed out of the outpost, and Gadsden’s eyes shot open in terror. “It’s coming!” the scientist yelped, his voice nearly as high-pitched as the dinosaur's call had been.

Jim growled and grabbed the bag from the man, then grabbed Gadsden’s shirtsleeve. “Come on!”

Just as Jim pushed Gadsden into the backseat next to Jordan, there was another shriek from behind them, this one much clearer and louder than the first. Jim risked a look over his shoulder and saw the raptor barreling through the front door. It looked around for a moment, then locked eyes with Jim.

Lifting its head to let out another call, the animal sprang forward with claws outstretched.

“Go! Go! Go!” Jim yelled to Taylor, grabbing onto the side of the rover with his right hand and throwing Gadsden’s bag into the scientist’s lap with his left.

Taylor threw the vehicle into gear and floored the accelerator. Jim had one foot on the running board, and his other dangled in midair for a moment. Then he hauled himself inside and dropped into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind him.

“Well, that wasn’t so hard,” Taylor cracked.

Jim looked back at the wide-eyed Gadsden, who was dangerously close to hyperventilating and almost as pale as his unconscious comrade, and then looked back to Taylor and chuckled. “Yeah,” he panted. “You could say that.”

* * *

_2161_

They had done it.

They had actually done it.

Sienna could barely contain her excitement as she surveyed the room. She was sitting on top of a large crate, double checking that the ropes holding it down were secure before the journey. After years of waiting, she was finally going to see her mother again. Even now, thinking back on how everything had transpired, Sienna almost couldn’t believe it. To think that she had hoped and prayed for years that she would somehow find a way to Terra Nova or that her mother would find a way back to her, and just when she had almost given up hope, Henry Tomkins had shown up at her graduation ceremony and turned her world on its head.

The months that had followed had been filled with long nights and frustration after frustration, but now the hard work of the entire Terra Solace team was about to pay off. They had finally established a portal back to prehistoric times, although they were still trying to determine exactly what point in history they had managed to reach. Sienna looked over at the small group huddled around the controls near the glowing wormhole-like opening. The blue-gray light writhed and twisted, almost looking as if it was alive as it hovered in the air. As soon as they were able to make sure they had connected to the correct year, they would be able to move their equipment through and await Commander Taylor’s arrival.

Sienna turned to survey the rest of the room. There were a dozen armed team members, geared up and ready to head through the portal ahead of the others, four scientists -- plus Sienna -- and three medics, all with their necessary equipment. They also had enough supplies to last for several months, and some agricultural items to help establish the colony once they connected with Taylor. All they had to do was find him once he arrived, and with the detector that one of the team had rigged up, they’d be able to tell as soon as Hope Plaza connected with what would eventually become Terra Nova.

They were making history with this project, Sienna thought with a satisfied sigh. Hopefully, the 2149 tragedy of Hope Plaza would never have to happen.

And then there was a sudden commotion from the doorway as a figure came rushing inside. All heads turned toward the man, who was now waving frantically at them all. “Hurry!” he yelled. “They’re coming!”

“What?” Henry broke from the group near the portal and strode toward the new arrival.

Sienna hopped down from her perch on the crate and moved closer to hear better.

“They… they found out,” the man gulped. “The government knows what we’re doing, and there’s a veritable army on the way.”

Cries of “What? How?” echoed around the room as the team members all looked at each other in panic.

“I don’t know how!” the messenger exclaimed. “There’s no way they could have, but still… They’ll be here any minute!”

“Okay, okay.” Henry swallowed. “We just need to --”

The man shook his head wildly and grabbed Henry’s arm. “No, you don’t understand! They’re coming _right now._ You have to go now before it’s too late!”

Silence reigned in the room for just a moment, then Henry nodded and clapped his hands together. “Okay, come on, people. It’s now or never. Let’s move!”

* * *

_Terra Nova_

A flash of lightning illuminated the night sky, followed by a long, low rumble of thunder. Another lightning strike and then another grumble of thunder sounded, a long, low growl that seemed to stretch on forever before it finally tapered off. It had been storming almost non-stop since that morning, and the two occupants of the house on one of Terra Nova’s residential streets paid no attention to the rumbling outside.

Mark and Maddy were sitting at the kitchen table, each with a steaming cup in front of them and a board game set up in the middle of the flat surface. Maddy was studying the game board, her nose wrinkling as she considered her next move.

“So your birthday is next week,” Mark spoke up, lowering his mug and regarding his girlfriend across the table. “Have you decided what you want to do?”

Although she tried to hide it, Maddy’s expression immediately fell. She blinked a few times, then looked up at Mark. “I… I don’t know,” she said slowly. “Mom keeps asking me the same thing, but…” she trailed off.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well…” Maddy sighed. “I mean, I know it’s silly, but I don’t really even want to celebrate it at all. I mean, you heard Taylor reading that list at the meeting; those are all people who will never see their next birthday. And their families won’t get to celebrate any more birthdays with them ever again. Why should I get to enjoy my birthday when there are so many people hurting in Terra Nova right now?” She sniffled and wiped a hand under her nose. “I just… I feel guilty, I guess. And then I feel guilty _for_ feeling guilty.” She frowned at that. “Is that what they mean by ‘survivor’s guilt’? I never really knew what it was, not really, and now…”

“Maddy,” Mark interrupted her, reaching across the table for her hand. “Maddy, I know it’s hard. And trust me, you’re not the only one feeling like that. It’s called being human. And I know for a fact that the people who we lost would want us to go on living. Do you think Lieutenant Washington gave her life so that you could sit at home and feel guilty that it was her and not you?” He gave Maddy a small, encouraging smile. “You have to go on living your life. It’s the best way to honor the people who died.”

Maddy sniffled again and nodded, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye. She smiled at Mark and squeezed his hand. “Thanks, Mark.”

Before Mark could reply, there was a sudden clap of thunder, this one much louder than any that had come so far. The echoes faded into the distance, but before they had fully quieted, a second thunderclap came, even louder than the first.

“That one was close,” Maddy commented, eyes wide.

As she was still speaking, there came a third. This time, the soundwaves shook the floor under them as the sound reverberated back and forth for a moment.

Mark nodded slowly as he glanced from the window back to her. “Yeah… I probably should go check in with my commanding officer and make sure everything’s okay. That one was too close for comfort. You’ll be okay here?”

“Yeah,” Maddy told him, nodding. “I’ll be fine.”

“Good.” Mark came around the table to give her a kiss, then headed for the door. He grabbed his jacket off of the hook and pulled it on, then opened the door and disappeared into the stormy night.

“Be careful!” Maddy called after him, watching the lightning light up the night sky as the door swung closed.


	3. Chapter 3

_ Terra Solace _

Henry had rushed them as best as he could, pushed them and even tossed a few bags through the open portal, but he’d only managed to see half of the team through before the doors to the warehouse had blown open. Somewhere in the chaos, Henry had been thrown backward off of his feet and through the portal. Things had gone dark at some point after his surroundings had seemed to turn to liquid as the portal swallowed him, and when he’d finally blinked his eyes back open, it had been to a jungle canopy above him and a crackling campfire to his right. There was also pain, all over, and he’d gasped in a breath and tried to thrash to his feet before someone’s hand was on his chest.

“Henry! Henry, lie still!” It was Richards, one of the medical team, pressing an oxygen mask over Henry’s mouth and nose. “Come on, deep breaths. There you go.”

Henry did as he was told, but as soon as Richards removed the mask, he started in on his questions. “Where are we? What happened? Did everyone make it through?”

“Whoa, whoa. Don’t get yourself worked up. You’re just going to make it worse.”

“Make what worse?” Henry was confused. He tried to push to a sitting position to get a look around him, but Richards wouldn’t let him.

“Lie still and calm down,” the man ordered sternly. “I’m serious. You got shot, man. This is no laughing matter.”

Well, that explained the pain. “What? Is everyone okay?” He growled as Richards started to respond. “And don’t you dare tell me anything but the truth.”

“Okay.” Richards sighed. He paused, and a bird -- at least, Henry hoped it was a bird -- squawked from somewhere in the jungle. Then Richards spoke, “About three-fourths of the team made it through the portal before the connection was broken. I’m not sure how; I was here already. We got most of the equipment… the medical supplies, some of the scientific instruments, food, some weapons… Someone started shooting, although I’m not sure who fired first, and you got blasted through the portal and hit your head on a rock. You’re lucky the medical equipment did come through,” he added, shaking his head. “A few others came through with injuries, but I’ve patched up everyone I could.”

“Okay…” Henry coughed. “Can we make it back to get the rest of the team?”

Richards shook his head. “No. I wish we could, but we can’t. The device the science team used to open the portal got left behind. We’re essentially stuck here until we can meet up with Taylor.”

“And how long will that be?”

“I wish I had more good news,” Richards replied. “But I’m going to have to give you bad news yet again. The device to determine the year got left behind too. We literally have no way of knowing what year it is.”

Henry closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “I suppose we just have to hope that our calculations were correct and that we managed to open the portal in the right year.”

“And we just wait for Taylor.” Richards nodded. “That’s really all we can do. Hopefully it’ll be soon.” 

* * *

_Terra Nova_

_“All outposts on the north side are secure,”_ Reilly’s voice came over the radio. _“Everything locked up tight. I’m heading back to Terra Nova now. Over.”_

Thunder rumbled through the jungle as Reynolds responded over the same channel, _“Same here on the west side. I’m just finishing up this last one, and I’ll be right behind you. Over.”_

There was a brief pause, then Shannon’s voice came through. _“Two more to check out on the east side. Had a couple of loose shutters on that last one that took me some time to secure, but otherwise, everything is looking fine. Over.”_

Taylor pressed the button on his radio. “Roger that. Got this last one to check out and then I’m headed back myself. Be safe. Over and out.” He tucked the radio away in his jacket pocket and turned back to the gate in front of him, swinging it open and heading for the outpost building inside the fence.

Over the past couple of days, the science team in Terra Nova had been tracking a storm front that had been moving in from the mountains. They had grown increasingly worried by the weather patterns, and their prediction that it would produce an angry, hurricane-like storm had Taylor extremely concerned. According to their resident meteorologist, this storm had the potential to be one of those once-in-a-generation type of storms. Taylor wasn’t sure if the colony could truly be ready for this impending weather event. On top of everything else that they had been through in the past few weeks, the last thing they needed was to have to battle a storm of epic proportions. Everyone in Terra Nova was understandably on edge, although all to varying degrees. The Sixers who had accepted Taylor’s offer to rejoin the colony seemed slightly less worried than the colonists who had been living inside the gates for years. And then there were the newest additions to Terra Nova who were still just trying to get acclimated to living in the past. Regardless of status, though, everyone in Terra Nova was pitching in to make sure they were ready when whatever this weather event turned out to be hit. They didn’t know what it would look like, so everyone was preparing for the worst. They even had bunkers stocked and ready to go, just in case.

The edges of the storm were just starting to reach the area, and the sky was nearly as black as night at two thirty in the afternoon. Taylor and some of his team were doing all they could to secure the colony’s resources. That included the outposts that were so vital to the security and advancement of life in Terra Nova. Everything had to be shuttered and secured as best as it could be against the battering winds and rain that were coming. If anything, Taylor supposed they should at least be grateful that Terra Nova wasn’t located near any substantial body of water. Flooding was an entire other concern that the colony was not prepared to face.

Within minutes, Taylor had checked everything around the outpost and made sure all of the latches and locks were secure. Thankfully the science team that had evacuated the outpost had done a decent job of nailing boards over the windows, and Taylor was satisfied that nothing more could be done to protect the place against the storm. He exited the building and then the fence, swinging the gate shut behind himself and making sure it latched tightly, then headed for his rover. Flicking on the headlights, he took off for home.

When he pulled back through the gates of Terra Nova, he spotted Reilly just climbing out of her rover. She nodded as she glanced back and caught his gaze, then turned to say something to the soldier who had come up next to her. Taylor looked around, noting with satisfaction the state of things in Terra Nova. All of the vendor tables that were usually out in the middle of the square had been picked up, stored out of the way until the storm passed. All of the windows he could see had been boarded up, and soldiers were busy tying down anything that couldn’t be moved. Taylor smiled to himself; maybe they would make it through this after all.

He strode up the stairs to his office as the first drops of rain started to splash down. There was the low roar of a rover’s motor as it rolled through the gates, and he looked over the railing to see Reynolds pulling in next to Reilly. That just left Shannon still checking on outposts. Pushing through the door, Taylor unzipped his jacket as he walked over to the table. There was a map of the colony displayed on the screen in the center of his workspace, and he leaned over to study it. His eyes drifted to the outposts that were marked at varying points in the jungle, and he nodded to himself as he mentally checked off the ones that had been secured. Then he reached for his radio to call Shannon; the wind was starting to pick up outside, and he didn’t want anyone outside the gates who didn’t absolutely have to be. But before he could press the button, the radio crackled to life in his hand.

 _“Taylor!”_ There was a good bit of static in the line, but Taylor could still make out Shannon’s voice. _“Taylor, there’s…”_ The static drowned out whatever he was about to say.

“Say again, Shannon. Over.” Taylor’s brow furrowed in concentration.

_“I found sabotage at Outpost Seven. More clean cuts. No way to fix it right now, so I just rigged the fence shut. Over.”_

Taylor growled to himself. They didn’t have time to be worrying about Mira and her vengeful tactics. “Hurry back, then; that’s all you can do, and this storm’s just getting worse. Over.”

 _“Uh, that might be hard to do,”_ Shannon sounded almost sheepish. _“I spun out in the mud and hit a log. Rover’s engine is still running, but I think I damaged something in the undercarriage. It’s making a weird noise.” The other man sounded frustrated. “Over.”_

“Don’t worry about it. Could’ve happened to anybody. You okay? Over.”

 _“Well, I hit my head when the rover spun out…”_ Static interrupted whatever else he was saying.

“Shannon, I didn’t copy. Over.”

More static, then _“...too much blood… I can’t…”_ Then more static hissed over the line.

Now Taylor was really worried. “Shannon! Say again! I did not read you. Over.”

Static.

“Shannon!” Taylor growled and resisted the urge to punch something. Ordinarily, he’d trust Shannon to ride out the storm at an outpost, but the fact that the last transmission had included the words “too,” “much,” and “blood” -- in that order -- didn’t sit right with the commander. He looked out the window, studying the sky. The trees at the edge of the jungle were whipping back and forth, and the rain was starting to come down harder, but it still wasn’t anything worse than Taylor had seen before. And the idea that Shannon was injured somewhere in a jungle full of predators couldn’t be ignored.

Making his decision, Taylor zipped his jacket back up and strode for the door. They had to move fast, but with any luck, they’d get to Shannon before it got too bad and they could hole up at an outpost until the worst of the weather blew over. The important part was moving quickly enough to find to the younger man before anything hungry did.

* * *

Skye bit her lip as she watched water cascading in front of her. She was currently standing in the doorway of the house she shared with several other teenagers in the colony, although no one else was home at the moment. She leaned against the side of the doorjamb and sighed. It wasn’t the warmest place in Terra Nova at the moment, but she needed to think, and the cool wind was helping clear her head. Her arms were crossed in an attempt to keep the chill out, and she rubbed her upper arms as she stood lost in her thoughts.

She had felt out of sorts ever since she had come back to the colony after helping defeat Lucas and Mira and their Phoenix Group army. It was mostly due to the unresolved tension that currently existed between her and Taylor… and she knew their strained relationship was no secret to anyone in town either. She could sense it in the whispers that suddenly quieted when she walked past or the sideways glances she’d catch out of the corner of her eye. Ever since Taylor had learned that Skye had traded inside information on Terra Nova to Mira in exchange for a cure for her deathly ill mother, Skye and the commander had barely talked. And everyone knew that Taylor had functioned as Skye’s guardian after her parents had both supposedly died from the fever, which meant they all took notice when the two of them were no longer regularly seen together around the colony.

Fewer people knew of what had happened in the jungle at the end of the battle for power over Terra Nova. In fact, Skye was fairly certain that only four knew: Taylor, Lucas, herself, and Jim Shannon. She would do it again in a heartbeat, and not only to save Taylor. She had seen the dark side of Lucas Taylor, and she knew he couldn’t be saved. It wasn’t so much that he was past redemption, but because he didn’t _want_ to be redeemed. Lucas was so far down the rabbit hole of his hatred that he couldn’t find his way back out. Skye wasn’t sure that there was any option besides shooting him that would ever free Terra Nova and Commander Taylor of the danger of the deranged man Lucas had become.

Skye inhaled slowly and unfolded her arms. Thinking all of this over only served to reiterate to her the importance of finally working things out with Taylor. It was past time they did so, she told herself. Surely Taylor would recognize that. Especially with such an unknown future ahead of the colony, this was no time to hold grudges. They had to band together. Isn’t that what Taylor himself had said during his speech?

Skye took another deep breath and started down the path toward the front gates where Taylor’s office stood. It didn’t take her long to arrive, but as she did, she saw Taylor hopping into one of the rovers parked nearby. As he peeled out through the gates, she groaned inwardly. She couldn’t believe how terrible her timing was.

She spotted one of the younger soldiers fiddling with another rover and hurried over to him. “Hey, Walton,” she called as she jogged up. “Where’s Taylor going?” she asked

“Oh.” The man looked up distractedly. He was a little older than she was, with red hair and a sprinkling of freckles across his face. “He said something about heading out to Outpost Eleven, I think,” he replied before turning back to the bolt he was tightening.

“Eleven?”

“Yeah. Pretty sure. Why?” he asked her, squinting against the drizzle of rain that the wind was blowing around in a fine spray.

“Uh, no reason. Thanks,” she told him, tucking her hands into her pockets and nonchalantly backing up several steps. When she was satisfied that the man was no longer paying attention to her, she turned and hurried over to the far rover in the row of parked vehicles. The keys were hanging in the ignition where someone had left it moments before, judging from the steam rising off of its hood in the rain.

With a furtive glance around her, Skye grabbed the rail to climb inside. It shouldn’t take her long to catch up to Taylor, and it was the perfect situation anyway. He was probably just going make sure Outpost Eleven was locked up before the storm, and the fewer people who were around, the less awkward their whole conversation would be; it would be hard enough already, but she would feel better about it if no spectators were nearby.

“Skye!”

The exclamation made her jump, and she let out a tiny exclamation of surprise as she turned toward the noise.

“What are you doing?” Josh Shannon asked.

She put a hand on her chest and chuckled. “You scared me.”

Josh brushed his wet hair off of his forehead. “This is really nasty weather; you probably shouldn’t go out.” He studied her face as he spoke. “ Is something wrong?” he asked in concern.

“No… no, nothing like that. I just need to go talk to Taylor.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That can’t wait? Skye, it’s dangerous out there..”

“I’ll be fine,” she tried to assure him. “He’s just heading to Outpost Eleven, which isn’t very far. I know the way there like the back of my hand; I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Skye --”

But she didn’t give him time to argue. She slammed the door shut and cranked the engine, then pressed the pedal to the floor and headed after Taylor.

* * *

Taylor squinted as he strained to focus on the road in front of him. The rutted dirt track was difficult enough to see at times even when the weather was clear. Now, with the rain lashing harder and harder by the minute, it was next to impossible. He instinctively ducked as thunder cracked close overhead. The next moment, a tree limb came crashing down on the path in front of him, severed by a searing bolt of lightning.

His radio crackled. _“Come in, Commander Taylor.”_

“Reynolds?” Taylor grabbed the device. “Is everything okay there? Over.”

 _“Uh, yes sir, but I just thought you should know that Skye took a rover out. Over,”_ Reynolds replied.

Taylor slammed on his brakes. “What?”

There was a pause, then Reynolds replied hesitantly. _“Yes, sir. I thought you should know, what with everything going on. Josh Shannon said she was following you to Outpost Eleven. Over.”_

“What?” Taylor’s stomach dropped. “I’m not at Eleven; I’m headed to _Seven_!”

_“Do you need backup? Over.”_

Chuckling to himself, Taylor shook his head. Reynolds was a good kid, even if he was a little over-eager at times. “No, Reynolds, that won’t be necessary,” he responded. “I’ll let you know if I need anything.” He started to sign off, then added, “Thanks for letting me know. Over and out.” He ended the connection with Reynolds, then frowned as he tried to make a decision. Shannon was still possibly in danger, but he was more capable of handling himself in a life-or-death situation than Skye would be. Taylor twisted a dial on his radio, then punched the talk button. “Outpost Seven, this is Commander Taylor. Do you read me? Over.”

A voice came online over a small _hiss_ of static. _“Taylor! I was just about to call you,”_ Shannon replied. Taylor could hear the fatigue in his voice. _“It’s getting bad out here; I just made it to the outpost. My radio fritzed out on me, but I think we can fix it here. Over.”_

“Good.” Taylor breathed a small sigh of relief. “Look, Skye took a rover out, so I’m trying to catch up to her before the eye of the storm hits. If she shows up there, call me. Over.”

 _“Do you need help?”_ Shannon was probably soaked to the bone, and no telling what else, but Taylor had no doubt the other man would not hesitate to charge back into the jungle if Taylor needed him to. _“Where are you? Over.”_

“No, no; you stay put. No need for more of us to be out here than we have to. I’ll update you as soon as I can. Over and out.”

Over the next minutes, as he raced along the rain-slicked path through the trees, Taylor tried, again and again, to raise Skye on the radio, but all he got was static. The lightning strikes had been increasing in frequency over the past few minutes, and he could only assume that the electricity being generated from them was interfering with the radio signals. He was trying to keep from getting too worried; Skye knew how to handle herself… Only, she’d never been by herself in a jungle with a monster storm that was battering everything in sight.

“Can things get any worse?” he yelled aloud, barely able to hear even his words above the roaring of the wind. He pressed down on the accelerator as he reached a clearing in the jungle, and then, as things are bound to do when that question has been voiced, they got worse.

Another bolt of lightning flashed down from the heavens, connecting with a tree and severing the top of its trunk. The cracking of branches as it made its way down grew steadily louder, even above the sound of the rumbling thunder.

Taylor had seen it falling and was already yanking his wheel to the right. His tires squealed in the mud before gaining the needed traction. The delay was only momentary, but it was enough that he was still close to the tree when it slammed to the ground. It landed vertically and stood there for just a moment, even as the shock waves spread through the ground around it. Taylor could feel the vibration even from inside his rover. He pumped the accelerator in a desperate attempt to clear the danger, but then the tree began to fall forward, and the next minute he was airborne.

His rover slammed back into the ground at an angle, which left it teetering on two wheels for just a moment before it began to roll. Taylor instinctively braced himself as his world tilted at an unusual angle, and then it was rightside up again, then sideways, then upside down, then coming to a shuddering halt against a large boulder. But Taylor didn’t feel the crushing impact of the rover meeting the unmovable rock. He was sprawled on the jungle floor a few yards away, where he had been thrown free as the vehicle had flipped over.

* * *

The rain was pounding as Skye pulled her rover up to the fence around Outpost Eleven. The sky was nearly pitch black, tinged with a hint of green, as continuous thunder rumbled overhead. There was a flash of light as lightning connected with a tree somewhere nearby, and then another, and then another. Swallowing, Skye pulled her hood up over her head and then threw the rover door open and leaped out. She darted for the gate, fiddling with the lock and then slipping inside as soon as it clicked open. From there, it was a fifteen-second jog to the door of the building, and she was soon in out of the weather.

“Taylor?” she called as she pulled her hood back off of her head. She could hear a faint patter as the water dripped off of her jacket and onto the hard floor, but there was no response from anyone inside. Slipping out of her jacket and hanging it on one of the hooks by the door, she stamped as much water and mud from her boots as she could and then started for the labs in search of someone. Maybe Taylor had made it and was just grabbing a dry change of clothes. It was certainly possible.

“Taylor?” she tried again, but still there was no response. Skye bit her lip as she stepped farther into the eerily silence. Most of the outposts had been evacuated in the face of the oncoming storm, and this one appeared to be no different. With a sigh, she realized she hadn’t even looked for another rover when she’d pulled up, even if the driving rain had not obscured her field of vision. She proceeded through the small building as quickly as she could and soon came to the conclusion that she was the only occupant. She frowned. Where was Taylor then? If he had decided to turn back due to the weather, she would have encountered him on the road. Maybe he’d gotten turned around in the poor visibility… But then she dismissed that idea. If anyone could find their way in that jungle, it was Taylor.

That realization set dread knotting in her gut. Something must have happened to Taylor or else he would be there. Trying to ignore the visions that threatened her of Taylor hurt in the storm, she tugged her jacket up again and headed for the door. There was no way she was staying in safety when he was possibly out there alone. She’d never forgive herself if anything happened to him.

Suddenly, the entire outpost shook violently, and Skye was thrown forward. She barely had time to throw out her hands and catch herself as she hit the floor, then she scrambled to her feet as a barrage of wind began to blow rain through the room.

She squinted upward in the direction from which the wind was coming and groaned. A tree, either broken by lightning or uprooted by the wind, had come through the roof of the outpost and left it open to the elements. Skye scrambled to her feet and immediately wished she’d kept her jacket with her as she was instantly soaked to the skin from the rain coming in through the breach. The size of the tree sent her heart sinking; there was no way she’d be able to clear it on her own. She sighed as she straightened her shoulders and made a mental note to tell the maintenance team about the damage at the outpost when she got back to Terra Nova.

And then she realized the tree was blocking her way to the entrance.

And her radio was in her jacket pocket -- which was still hanging on the hook by the entrance.

* * *

The driving rain was soaking through his clothes, making them cling to him and hamper his every movement. His legs were trembling from the strain, literally shaking under him. But he couldn't stop, and not just because Skye was out there somewhere. Something was tracking him, something smart and fast. It was to the left of him now, he was sure of it. He tried not to look, tried not to be obvious about looking; some small, slightly dazed part of his brain told him that if it knew he was looking for it then it would move again, dodge around him again, take cover behind the torrential rain again. He took as deep a breath as his chest would allow and couldn't quite smother the cry of pain that crept up his throat as his cracked ribs shifted at the movement.

A rustle to his right, incredibly louder than the rain hitting the leaves, made him spin around. His eyes strained to peer through the dense undergrowth. For a split second, he thought he could make out a pair of absurdly large eyes looking back at him, but his rapid movement had thrown him off balance. He stumbled a few steps backward before falling into the thick, icy mud. This time, he didn't even try to bite back his pained yell. Every cut and bruise flared as he hit the ground, every exhausted muscle screamed, and his head swam with the pain. Thick clouds, all different shades of gray, swirled around his vision… and he couldn't quite remember why he should fight to get away from them.

He let himself sink deeper and deeper, feeling the pain ease as his muscles finally relaxed, and wondered why the quiet rustling he could hear made a brief spike of unease flare up within him. It was just the wind in the trees. He'd enjoy it for just a moment longer, and then he had to go back indoors; the quality of the air was just too bad for him to be lying around without his rebreather. His eyes, glazed and dim from pain and fatigue, slid closed even as rainwater washed over his face.

* * *

Skye had ridden the storm out in Outpost Eleven, closing herself off in one of the back rooms where she could put the most space between herself and the rain pouring into the lab through the hole in the roof. She’d been able to spend the night warm and dry, but that almost made matters worse. She couldn’t shake the worry that Taylor was out in the jungle somewhere, looking for Shannon and being his generally stubborn self who wouldn’t seek shelter when any normal person would. She kept telling herself that it was silly to be worried about Taylor of all people, but she couldn’t help herself.

The moment the storm had slacked off enough for her to find a way out of the outpost, Skye had started searching. All of the windows had been closed up in preparation for the storm, and Skye had finally just clambered up the tree trunk and climbed down it on the outside. And now she was scrambling through the jungle, trying to find any sign of Taylor. She’d retrieved her jacket and radio once she was on the other side of the tree, but so far she hadn’t been able to connect with anyone on it. She wasn’t sure why, and she wouldn’t allow herself to think of what might have happened to the colony if the storm had hit it badly enough to cut off all radio communication.

She was only ten minutes into her trek when she came across a wrecked rover. Her heart sank as she took in the mangled wreckage of the vehicle where it lay next to a large boulder. There was no way anyone could have walked away from a crash like that, and Skye rushed forward to check for any occupants. She almost didn’t want to, but she knew she had to. She had to see who was inside on the off chance that they were still alive after the wreck and the storm. And if they weren’t… she owed it to whatever family they had left behind to find out who they were.

Reaching up to tuck a wet strand of hair behind her ear, Skye blinked against the rain that continued to fall and put a foot up on the vehicle’s tire. The rover was angled forward, with its hood resting against the rock and its back wheels lifted up off of the ground. The hood was crumpled in, and half of the back was punched inward as well.

Skye had to stretch to reach the door handle, but she finally grasped it and pulled to open it. Nothing budged. She tried again but to no avail. There was some damage to the metal of the doorframe; she could see that now that she was close enough, which appeared to be the culprit. Her first plan foiled, Skye tried to peer through the window, but she couldn’t quite reach it to see inside. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled with her fingertips against the edge of the window, but it was just not enough. Trying again, her eyes widened as she felt the wheel started to budge under her feet. It slipped downward as her weight dislodged whatever had been jamming the tire in place, and her arms pinwheeled for just a moment before she fell backward off of the rover.

She landed flat on her back on the ground, staring up at the sky as she tried to catch her breath. The fall had knocked the wind out of her, and she lay there gasping for a moment as the jungle spun above her. Blinking away the raindrops that kept hitting her face, Skye put out a tentative hand to try to push to her feet. Her head was throbbing, but she somehow managed to climb slowly to her knees and then to her feet.

“Skye?”

She knew that voice. “Taylor?” she gasped, spinning around, her fall forgotten as she threw her arms around him. “You’re all right!”

His groan of pain made her release him and jump back quickly. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?” She looked him up and down, taking in the blood staining the right side of his shirt and the cut on his forehead, even past the dirt and mud that seemed to be on every inch of him.

“Nothing that can’t be fixed,” he commented, waving away her concern. “I’ll be fine.”

Crossing her arms, Skye raised an eyebrow. “You don’t look fine. Was that your rover?”

Taylor smirked. “Guess I’d better hope you have an extra lying around.”

“Yeah,” Skye laughed in spite of herself. “Yeah, you could say that.”

* * *

It had been a long, lonely night at Outpost Seven. The team that had been manning it had all evacuated before the weather hit, which meant that Jim had been the only occupant as the storm raged outside. Thankfully they hadn’t packed up all of the emergency supplies, so he was able to patch up the cut on his forehead to the best of his ability. Elisabeth would probably scold him for the terrible job he had done, but Jim thought it was decent. At least he wasn’t bleeding all over the place anymore. Shallow wounds tended to bleed the worst, and this one was no exception. He found a few MREs in a second container, so he didn’t have to go hungry either, and he’d appropriated one of the cots in the back room to get what sleep he could -- although the crashing thunder kept waking him up every time he finally drifted off. To make matters worse, the radio had started fritzing out.

The isolation had eaten at him all night. The only place he wanted to be was home with his family. He could just imagine how scared Zoe had been during the night; she had never seen anything like it before in her young life. And Jim knew that Elisabeth had probably ridden the storm out in the hospital, in case anyone came in injured from the inclement weather as it blew through. He just hoped the kids had all been at the house together; the three of them would have been able to occupy each other. Jim smiled at faint memories of being a child, playing board games with his cousins as a storm raged outside. He hadn’t thought of that winter in ages.

But finally, the thunder had ceased, and the pounding of rain on the roof seemed to have slowed to less of a rush and more of a drizzle. Jim pulled the door shut behind himself and made sure it was latched tightly, then started for the gate. His rover was out of commission, which meant he’d have to trek back to the colony on foot. Hopefully all of the dinosaurs were tucked away in their caves or nests and wouldn’t cause him any trouble. As long as he didn’t linger, he should be able to make it home before lunch.

He had just started for the path into the jungle when a figure stepped out from behind a tree. Jim paused in mid-stride, blinking against the rain and wondering if he was seeing things. “Lucas?”

“Hello, Shannon,” the young man drawled. He took a step forward, and Jim immediately noticed the walking stick in his hand and the way he leaned his weight to his right side. “Long time, no see.”

“Hasn’t been long enough for me,” Jim growled.

Just then, there was the sound of a footstep on the grass behind him. Jim spun around, but it was too late. Mira had a gun pointed right at his face, and when he moved to draw his weapon, she pressed a button that powered up her own.

“Don’t make me shoot you, Shannon.”


	4. Chapter 4

_ The Badlands _

“Hey, Hooper.”

The dark-haired soldier looked up at the sound of his name. One of his men was watching him from across the campfire. “What?” Hooper grunted, pulling the toothpick from his mouth.

“Do you think that message was real? Do you think Lucas was telling the truth?”

Hooper snorted and spread his hands. “Why would he lie?”

The man shrugged. “Dunno. Me and Quincy here were just wondering if that Terra Solar team is still out there.”

“Solace,” Hooper corrected. “Terra Solace.”

“Yeah that. Lucas said those people were headed toward to these Badlands to set up a colony of their own. Do you think we’ll find them? And how did he know anyway?” The man frowned. “I mean, we have to take his word for it. He claims he and his Sixer friends destroyed the message so his father wouldn’t find it, but how do we know that’s what happened?”

“I don’t know, Pittman,” Hooper replied, shaking his head to accentuate each word. “But what’s better? Waiting around for some dino to eat us for dinner or trying to find someone who can help us? Terra Nova sure isn’t going to take us in; these Terra Solace people are our only chance.”

Now the other man, Quincy, joined in. “Come on, Pittman, everything else he said lines up. The calculations were there on the rocks; he showed us those. What was it he said? They were the perfect springboard for his own work that ended up getting us here?”

“And we see how that worked out,” Pittman snorted. “Look where that got us.”

“Hey,” Quincy put a hand on his friend’s arm. “Come on. Do you think Weaver would have given the government that information about the eventual Terra Solace team so it could be shut it down in a few years if he didn’t believe Lucas? Do you think we would’ve found that figurehead out in the middle of that old dried up lake if it had all been a lie?”

Pittman tilted his head as he considered that. “Yeah, I guess you got a point there.”

“Fine, I’m glad it’s settled,” Hooper said sarcastically. He tossed his toothpick into the fire. “Let’s just hope we find something usable out there, even if no one from Terra Solace is still around.”

* * *

_Terra Nova_  

Elisabeth sighed and put a hand to her temple to massage away the headache she could feel coming on. There was so much work to be done and not enough time in the day to do it. She regarded the workstation in front of her with a grimace; it felt like she’d been working on this project for hours, and although she didn’t necessarily doubt the research that indicated medicinal properties in this plant, she was starting to doubt her ability to extract it.

A voice broke into her thoughts just then. “Hand me that scope there, would you?” Malcolm gestured past Elisabeth.

“Yeah, sure.” She turned to grab the indicated instrument, but then the room suddenly tilted in front of her. She gasped and put out a hand to brace herself against the table. After a few deep breaths, things seemed to be back to normal, but she glanced back up to see Malcolm watching her intently.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked, worry coloring his tone.

“Yeah,” she replied, nodding. “I think I’m just tired is all.”

But Malcolm didn’t look convinced. “We’re all tired,” he told her. “I’ve  _ seen _ you tired before, even to the point of exhaustion, and you never look this pale.” As he spoke, he strode over to put a hand on her arm. “Sit,” he ordered gently, guiding her to the stool just to her right.

She did as he instructed, less out of an inclination to follow orders and more because her knees felt incredibly weak and there was no way she was fainting in front of her colleagues. Plus, Jim had enough on his plate right now; the last thing he needed was to be called away from important security matters because his wife hadn’t gotten enough sleep. “I’m sure I just need a decent nap, and I’ll be back to normal.” She glanced over to see Skye watching worriedly from where the girl had been organizing test tubes in one of the storage cabinets. Skye looked like she was about to say something, but then Malcolm crossed his arms and pulled her attention back his way.

“Nuh-uh. Nothing doing, Elisabeth.” Elisabeth had known the man for years, and he’d never been one to be easily dissuaded from anything. “I’m running some tests to make sure you’re good. You’ve been exposed to all sorts of things here, and exhaustion does lower your immune system. I just want to make sure you aren’t in any danger.” Then he leaned in and lowered his voice conspiratorially, “Jim would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

Elisabeth chuckled. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” Malcolm pointed a finger at her. “Stay there; I’ll be right back.”

As he turned away, Skye came over with a glass of water in her hand. She offered it to Elisabeth, along with a handful of small, brown crackers. “Here, Mrs. Shannon, you should probably eat something,” she advised with a worried smile.

“Thank you, Skye,” Elisabeth accepted the items, then felt a small flutter as her stomach growled in agreement. She grinned. “I guess I was hungrier than I thought.”

Skye cocked her head in curiosity. “When was the last time you ate?”

“I had breakfast this morning,” Elisabeth replied. “You don’t have to be  _ that _ worried about me.”

Whatever Skye was about to say next was interrupted by Malcolm’s return. He had several instruments in his hands, and he leveled a stern look at Elisabeth as he deposited the objects on the table. “Let’s make sure you’re as fine as you say you are, shall we?”

* * *

_ Terra Solace _

Henry stared out at the waterfall, glaring if willing a portal to open up would make one do just that. It had been nearly a month since his team had escaped from the warehouse through the portal. He sighed in frustration, then winced as his right side reminded him he still had a way to go before he was fully back to normal.

His team was trying to be patient, trying to tell themselves that it would only be a little longer and then Taylor would arrive, and they could fulfill their mission. But as the weeks dragged on, it was getting harder and harder to keep up morale. They’d already been attacked by dinosaurs since they’d arrived… large, ugly creatures with rows of sharp teeth and a tail that had rent flesh in one quick and deadly motion. There had been three of them, all setting upon the team at once, and if it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of the security team, Henry was sure they would have lost more of their number. As it was, the animals had killed one of the science team, Scourby, and had injured two others before they’d been driven off. Another time, a single, large dinosaur had charged them, but the armed security team had managed to shoot its underbelly in just the right spot to bring it down before any of the team was lost to it. Henry supposed they were fortunate they’d only been set upon those few times by prehistoric monsters for as long as they’d been camped out in the jungle, although the constant howls and shrieks from the dense jungle had the entire team continually on edge.

They had managed to bring along one of their detection devices that would indicate when and where the portal opened when Taylor came through, but the infernal thing hadn’t sounded once since they’d arrived. Henry was having his doubts as to if it still worked. However, deep in his gut, he knew. They’d done their research and were camped as near to where the original probe had come through as they could pinpoint. Or at least, they were fairly certain they had. Nothing was sure anymore, and they were all starting to doubt… well, everything besides their mission’s purpose. That still remained. They had to find a way to help Taylor avoid the pitfalls that would come his way, even if it would be hard work convincing him that his son was in cahoots with an enemy intent on stripping this prehistoric paradise for all it was worth.

Henry sighed as deeply as he dared, then turned and slowly made his way back to the camp. The rest of his team was there, one poking at a campfire, another walking back with a handful of dry wood. The others were scattered between the handful of tents that had been set up and the surrounding underbrush, but when they heard Henry’s footsteps crunching on the gravel, they all gathered in to meet him.

“Let’s regroup, shall we?” Henry asked, clapping his hands together. He looked over at the team’s lead physicist, a middle-aged man with a weathered tan and a short-yet-assertive stature. “Dorchester, how’s your team faring?”

“Well, we’ve been trying to work out how to get a portal reopened to the future,” Dorchester told him. The man sighed and ran a hand through his graying, shoulder-length hair. “It’s easier said than done though. I mean, we’ve made some progress, but nothing near what we need to achieve our goal.”

That wasn’t what Henry had wanted to hear. “Do you think you’ll figure it out anytime soon?”

Dorchester paused momentarily, regarding Henry with squinted gaze. “Do you want the truth?”

“That would be preferable.”

“Okay then.” Dorchester sighed. “We probably won’t figure this out for years. Most of our equipment got left behind, so all we’ve got is the rudimentary basics. And I mean  _ rudimentary _ . We’re scratching this stuff out on the rock face, for crying out loud! My team’s brilliant, but not that brilliant. And half of them got left behind in 2161. You’re lucky we’ve gotten this far with what we have.”

Rubbing a hand over his face, Henry closed his eyes for a moment. He wanted to sink into the ground and be done with this whole affair, but that wasn’t an option. So instead, he looked back up at the men and women gathered in front of him. “All right. All right,” he repeated, mulling over his thoughts. “We’ll just have to deal with what we’ve got. It’s not the best scenario by any means, but we can’t change that.” He squared his shoulders. “So correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as we can tell, we’re not sure where we’ve landed in relation to Taylor. Our calculations are off in one of two ways: either we’re in the right place but not time, or we’re in the right time but not place. If we were in the right place but not time, it’s possible Taylor won’t show up for years.”

Several of the faces in front of him fell at that statement, and several of the group started whispering at that.

“Does that mean we’re doomed?” someone asked.

Henry regarded the man who had spoken. It was Danielson, one of the team members who had assisted with recruiting others to the Terra Solace program. The man had no formal training in any scientific field, and Henry was fairly certain the man had only wanted to travel to the past for the fresh lease on life it would afford him. “Well, you could say that, I suppose, but that’s not going to help you any.” He shrugged. “Anyway, our other possibility is that we landed in the right time but not place, meaning Taylor could already have established the colony in another place nearby.”

“So what?” one of the medical team asked. “Do we go wandering off in search of them?”

“I say we do that,” called another member of the team. “Beats sitting on our butts doing nothing.”

Looking around the group, Henry could see multiple heads nodding in agreement. “Okay then, let’s vote. All who are for heading off in search of Terra Nova, say ‘aye.’”

A chorus of “aye”s sounded in the small clearing, with only a few remaining silent.

“But how do we know that’s the best option?” one of the men who hadn’t agreed said as soon as the others had quieted. “I mean, we could be guaranteeing our deaths by dinosaur or starvation if we start wandering around looking for a colony that may or may not exist.” He crossed his arms. “There are who knows how many dangers just waiting for us! I say we stay here.”

“Williams,” Dorchester spoke up again, “I see where you’re coming from, man, but there’s no guarantee we won’t suffer any of those same fates if we stay here! Our supplies aren’t unlimited; sooner or later, we're going to run out. If we find Terra Nova, so much the better. If not, we’re not worse off than if we’d stayed here.”

“And what if we got the location right and Taylor shows up here after we leave?” a woman’s voice spoke up. She crossed her arms. “It’s foolishness to split up with as few of us as there are, and what if -- if we had just waited another day or two -- we’d finally be rewarded with seeing Taylor come through the portal?”

“What if, what if, what if!” one of the soldiers exclaimed, standing to his feet from the boulder where he’d been sitting and listening up until this point. “One more day, two more days. We’ve been here for a month already, Williams! You can always keep going like that until you starve to death! Either we do something, or we sit here and rot!”

There was a rumble of agreement through the rest of the group, and Williams’ shoulders slumped slightly. Her expression still stayed defiant, but she looked a little less sure than she had moments before as she looked around at the others.

Henry nodded firmly. “Okay, then it’s settled. At first light, we pack up and head out. We’ll head for that big lake to the east. Maybe we’ll get lucky and stumble onto Terra Nova, maybe our portal detector will pick up Taylor coming through. Either way, we take our chances out there.”

“What if Taylor  _ does _ come through after we leave?” Williams persisted. “What if by the time we make it back, he’s gone off into the jungle, and we miss him? What then?”

A man in the back raised a hand. “Well, we’ve been scratching equations into rocks, haven’t we? Won’t he know something’s up when he finds them?”

“Perfect!” Henry snapped his fingers. “Somebody start working on a message to Taylor. Let’s let him know what’s going on, just in case he shows up here after we leave. Williams, why don’t you do it? Let him know we came through and why… oh,” he interrupted himself, “and add in a warning to watch out for Lucas’s double cross with future investors and the Phoenix Group. Let him know we’ll come looking for him and that we have supplies that can help him. Got it?” When Williams nodded eagerly, Henry smiled in satisfaction. “All right then. The rest of you, get to work on the camp. Let’s go!”

* * *

_ Terra Nova _

Elisabeth pushed inside the house and closed the door behind her. The worst of the storm had now passed, but the wind was still blowing fiercely, and the rain was still coming down, although not as severely as it had earlier that afternoon. She shrugged off her jacket, hanging it on a hook by the door, then reached up to smooth her mussed hair from where the hood of the jacket had been covering it. “Jim?” she called, trying to hide the smile on her face. “I have some news.”

“He’s not here, Mom.” Maddy stuck her head out of the girls’ bedroom. “He hasn’t been back since this morning… Is everything okay?”

“Oh, of course,” Elisabeth replied. She smiled at her daughter. “I’m sure he and Commander Taylor just have their hands full with everything going on around here lately.”

Maddy shrugged. “Okay. Hey, what’s for dinner?”

“Um, you find something, okay?” Elisabeth was already reaching for her jacket again. “I’m going to run over to Taylor’s office to see if your dad will be home for dinner. You kids eat, though; just save us enough,” she added with a wink.

“Gotcha,” Maddy replied with a nod.

Zipping up her jacket, Elisabeth threw a wave over her shoulder and then stepped out into the storm again. She was using dinner as an excuse, and she was sure Maddy was smart enough to know it, but Elisabeth needed to see Jim. Not only did she feel like she would burst if she didn’t tell him the news, but she was starting to worry. She knew there was a lot going on in the colony lately, but she hadn’t seen him since the night before, and she just needed to make sure he was doing okay.

After unsuccessfully checking several places along the way to Taylor’s office, Elisabeth reached the raised building where the commander kept his headquarters. She blinked the rain from her eyes as she put a hand on the railing and started up to Taylor’s office. This was the only other place she could think of where he would be if he weren’t out inspecting one outpost or another. She hoped he and Taylor were just hunched over a map or screen of some sort, making plans and discussing strategies. It hadn’t been an easy time for anyone in Terra Nova lately, but especially not for the men whose job it was to ensure the survival of everyone else. It was getting late, though, and dusk was falling fast. Even though she knew Jim made many trips outside of the gates after dark and had always come back, there was still a part of her that worried every time he went. And especially now.

Taylor opened the door to her knock, his eyes softening when he saw who it was. “Good evening, Elisabeth,” he greeted her politely. “Come in; get out of this weather.” He stepped aside and swung the door open wider.

She returned his smile but shook her head. “I’m good; thank you. Just looking for Jim. Do you know where he is?”

“He’s probably on his way back,” Taylor told her with a casual shrug. “This storm was a doozy, and he rode it out at one of the outposts. Now that the rain is slacking off a bit, he’ll be able to drive home safely.” He reached out and put a reassuring hand on her arm. “I’ll send him to you as soon as I see him, okay?”

“Okay.” Elisabeth nodded her thanks. “I appreciate it, Commander.”

“Anytime.” His eyes crinkled with warmth. “Now you’d better get yourself home before you catch cold. Those jackets only do so much,” he added with a wink.

She tugged the hood back over her hair and smirked. “You’re right about that. Thank you again,” she told him, before turning and heading back down the staircase.

Taylor watched her go, the smile on his face slowly turning to a frown of concern as she headed down the path toward the Shannon residence. He had thought Jim would have made it home already; plenty enough time had passed since the younger man had radioed in that he was leaving the outpost for him to have gotten back to Terra Nova. Taylor hoped it was nothing serious, but Jim was always attentive to keep Taylor apprised of any delays in missions; Jim knew how dangerous the jungle was and the importance of sending back updates. Hopefully it was something simple, but Taylor’s mind immediately jumped to all of the more severe outcomes that could potentially have befallen Jim.

And then, as if all of his fears had suddenly come to life, there was a crackle on the radio as a woman’s voice came through. She didn’t even have to introduce herself; Taylor recognized her voice immediately.

_ “Taylor, are you there?” _

Taylor snatched up the device and clenched it in his hand as he pressed the button to speak. “Mira, if you have done anything to harm Shannon I will --”

_ “Yeah, yeah. You’ll hunt me down and kill me. Blah, blah, blah. I haven’t hurt him. Much,” _ she added, almost as an afterthought.  _ “But I’m prepared to, so listen up.” _

Taylor growled and then pushed the button again. “What do you want, Mira?” Even as he spoke, he strode to the window and gestured at one of the soldiers standing guard on the ground outside. The man nodded and hurried up the stairs to join his commander.

_ “Simple. I want contact with 2149 again.” _

The soldier had just walked inside of the office, and his eyes widened in surprise at the conversation taking place. Taylor shot him a look. “I want a location on Shannon’s radio right now.”

“Yes, sir!” Immediately, the soldier rushed to the table in the center of Taylor’s office and started typing away at the screen display set into it.

As he did, the radio crackled again.  _ “Taylor, did you hear me?” _

“I heard you.” He was making no effort to hide the complete anger and frustration in his tone. “You do know we have no way to contact 2149 any longer?”

There was a pause, then,  _ “I don’t think that’s true. I want my daughter back, Taylor. Either you get me there or bring her here; I don’t really care which way the portal goes at this point.” _

“Mira, the portal was destroyed.” Taylor leaned over to study the map that was now displaying a circular indicator where Jim’s radio was positioned. The signal seemed to be in the jungle midway between two of the outposts on the far perimeter of where they had ventured into the wilderness. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the door. “I want a team ready in ten minutes,” Taylor told the soldier who had stepped back from the screen to allow the commander access to the screen. “Have them geared up with ammunition and the rovers running.”

_ “I’ll give you until dawn tomorrow. And then Shannon pays for every hour you’re late.”  _ With that, the crackle of static from the other side of the radio communication went silent.

“Mira. Mira!” Taylor tried, but there was no response. He grunted then slammed a hand on the table in frustration. There was nothing they could do now but hope they got to Jim in time. With any luck, Mira would have made a mistake covering her tracks, and they’d catch up to her. Taylor just hoped she’d stay true to her word and wait until the next day before harming her hostage. She was shrewd enough to know that angering Taylor wouldn’t help her cause any. At least, that’s what he was counting on.

Hopefully he wasn’t giving her too much credit.

* * *

“Walk, Shannon,” Mira ordered, giving him a push from behind.

Jim glowered but didn’t argue. He’d already tried that, as his bloody nose and gash on his temple could attest. And besides, with the gun Mira had pointed at his back at all times, he didn’t have much room to argue with her. “I’m going, I’m going,” he muttered. “What’s the rush anyway? You pulled the batteries out of my radio; it’s not like Taylor is going to track us to… where are we going again?”

“Just walk.”

Raising his hands, Jim nodded. “Okay, okay. I’m walking.”

Mira just snorted and pushed him again. A few moments later, the jungle opened up to a large clearing. A tall cliff stretched up on the far side, in the side of which the opening to a cave of some sort was visible. Movement from a clump of bushes startled Jim, but the tension in his shoulders relaxed when he realized that the presence was human and not reptilian. But his relief was short-lived when he saw who it was.

“Glad you could finally make it,” Lucas sneered. “Stopped for coffee along the way?”

“Oh, shut up,” Mira snapped back. “He’d have bested you in two seconds, and you know it.”

Lucas frowned but didn’t respond. He just turned and stomped toward the cave. “Well come on then. Before we all get old.”

“Uh, excuse me,” Jim cut in, raising a hand and then waving it at Mira as she stepped closer to him. “Oh, cut it out with the pushing, okay? I’m not going anywhere. What exactly are we doing here?”

Turning back to face Jim, Lucas smirked. “She didn’t tell you?” he asked, looking over Jim’s shoulder to Mira. “Of course she didn’t,” he snorted. “Mira’s always been more of a fan of acting than talking.”

“Shut it, Lucas.”

He made a face and rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Anyway, Shannon, as you can see, I am nowhere near capable of clearing this cave here, and Mira won’t put herself in such a vulnerable position as to do the clearing -- although she wants to reap the rewards of it, of course,” he quirked an eyebrow at that. “So that’s where you come in, Jim Shannon.”

“And what do you get out of it? You two finally settling down in domestic bliss?” Jim cracked. Then he was thrown to his knees as light exploded in his vision and the jungle around him went fuzzy for a brief moment. When he regained his senses, he was on his hands and knees in the dirt. A pair of dirty boots was in front of his face, and Jim followed them upward to Lucas Taylor’s crossed arms and smirking face.

“I would love to let Mira smack you around all day,” the younger man told him. “But there’s this little matter of a cave that needs clearing, and you sort of have to be in one piece to do manual labor.” He nudged Jim’s arm with his boot. “Come on now, Shannon. Up and at ‘em.”

Glaring at Lucas, Jim shifted his hands and then pushed up against the ground. When he had gotten to his feet, he raised an eyebrow at Lucas. “What’s with this cave anyway?”

“I ask the questions around here. You just get to work,” Lucas ordered.

Mira shoved Jim from behind. “We don’t have all day, Shannon,” she barked.

Reluctantly, Jim made his way over to the rock-laden entrance to the cave. He stood back and surveyed it for a moment, then sighed and squared his shoulders. Until he saw a chance to get the upper hand, he didn’t have much of a choice. It wasn’t as if he could take out two armed assailants and escape into the jungle in a puff of smoke. Clearing the cave -- or at least starting to until an opportunity presented itself -- was his only real option at the moment. He had just reached down to grasp one of the smaller boulders when Mira spoke from behind him.

“So how long after we get into the cave until you get the portal reopened?” Mira asked.

That caught his attention, but Jim carefully focused his gaze on the rocks in front of him, even as he continued listening to what the duo in the clearing was saying.

“Well,” Lucas responded slowly, “first I have to double-check the amount of minerals in the walls. If the deposit is as large as I think it is, all it’ll take is a few bits and pieces that I can cobble together from what the Phoenix Group left behind and some other materials from the jungle, and  _ hopefully  _ we can reconnect with the future.”

“Huh,” Mira grunted. “Fine then. I’m going find dinner. You good to watch him?”

Jim paused as the sound of a sonic pistol powering up met his ears.

“Yeah,” Lucas replied.

“Good. See you later then.”

Listening to the sound of Mira’s footsteps had retreated into the jungle, Jim lifted another rock and tossed it to the side. “There is no mineral deposit in this cave, is there?” Jim asked aloud even as he picked up another large rock. He risked a glance away from the pile of debris to observe Lucas.

There was a flicker as the other man’s eyes widened ever so slightly, but then he glared at Jim. “Shut up and keep working.”

“You know what I think?” Jim continued. “I think you’re trying to save your own skin by telling Mira you can get her back to 2149.”

“Shut up.”

“Come on; you’re smarter than this. I mean, you were there. You know exactly what that explosion meant. There  _ is _ no way back to the future. Oh!” Jim snapped his fingers. “Did she threaten you?” He studied Lucas’s face as he spoke, noting the younger man’s expression as Lucas’s jaw clenched in anger. “She did, didn’t she?”

“I said  _ shut up _ !” Lucas hissed. His face was starting to grow red as he stared Jim down.

“And I mean, it makes sense then why you had to grab me. You’re in no shape to evade her right now, so you can’t dare let Mira down. What’d she do, threaten to string you up for the dinos if you didn’t help her? I bet she did, and so you had to figure out a way to stall until you’re strong enough to get away successfully,” Jim added with a shrug.

“ _ Stop talking! _ ” Lucas raised his pistol in Jim’s direction. “Clearing this cave is going to be a lot harder if you only have the use of one arm.”

“Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you,” Jim commented, turning and hurling a rock at Lucas in one quick motion.

The other man ducked out of the way, cursing as the movement aggravated whatever injuries Lucas was nursing. It wasn’t the incapacitating blow for which Jim had hoped, but it would have to do. He ducked around the corner of the cave into the jungle, hearing the whine of Lucas’s sonic pistol seconds before the tree next to his head splintered with the shock of the blast.

Lucas’s primal scream echoed through the jungle, and then the pistol whined again. This time, there was no splintering of a tree. Instead, Jim suddenly found himself flying forward. The pain of the blast didn’t have time to register before he was hurled headlong into a thicket right off of the path.

His landing carved a swathe through the underbrush before Jim came to a sudden halt as he slammed into the sturdy trunk of a small tree. His forearms absorbed most of the impact, and he lay still for a moment, breathing slowly and taking inventory of his extremities. Everything seemed to be in working order, but Jim didn’t take the time to check past being able to wiggle all of his toes and fingers before he painfully scrambled to his feet. There was crashing in the underbrush nearby, and whether it was human or dinosaur, he knew he had to get moving. He’d worry about any further damage from the pistol and his dive through the bushes later.

“ _ Shannon! _ ”

His feet pounded the packed dirt, and he didn’t dare look behind him. If he didn’t concentrate on where he stepped, he knew he’d end up tripping over a root or a fallen branch and go sprawling. Jim wasn’t sure he could get back up if he fell again, so he focused very hard on where he was going and tried to tune out everything else. He could only hope that he didn’t run headlong into any hungry Carnotaurs. He took a turn around a particularly thick grove of trees and then pulled up, his arms pinwheeling as he halted his forward momentum.

“Shannon!” Taylor exclaimed, leaping forward to put an arm around the younger man. “Good heavens, man, are you okay? You look like a pack of hungry Nykos decided to snack on you for lunch.”

“Kinda feels that way too,” Jim cracked. He stumbled slightly and put out a hand to steady himself as the shock and pain began to catch up with him. Blinking several times in quick succession, he tried to focus on the group of soldiers looking his way expectantly, but he was having no success. He felt his knees buckling underneath him, vaguely heard the shouts of “Jim!” and “Mr. Shannon!” from somewhere nearby, but then he was lying on his back and staring up at the treetops. There was something he needed to tell Taylor, he just knew it, but what was it…? His mouth moved, but nothing came out, so he licked his lips and tried again. “Lucas,” he managed to croak out.

“What?” he could hear Taylor exclaiming. A hand was on his chest. “Shannon, what did you say?”

“Lucas…” he panted. “Mira… cave…” He had so much more to say, but then someone prodded his side, and the pain exploded up into his head. And with it came the darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

Taylor pushed aside a hanging fern as he studied the path ahead of him. It didn’t take an expert woodsman to retrace Shannon’s steps; there were trampled leaves and broken fronds everywhere, not to mention the drops of blood that spattered the ground every few paces. Mira and Lucas were growing more unhinged by the day, and there was no telling what those two had done to Shannon. Taylor hadn’t been able to get more than a dozen words out of the younger man before he’d gone unconscious.

So now, the commander was retracing the path Shannon had taken through the jungle, searching for any sign of his son or Mira. He suspected both were long gone by now, but he had to try. He knew that if he didn’t, he’d always be haunted by the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he’d have found Lucas at that cave. Of course, as expected, there was no one in sight when he reached the cave. He knew this was the place. There were signs of human presence everywhere. Three distinct sets of footprints, as a matter of fact. Who else could it be?

Taylor studied the area for a few moments more. He frowned as he noticed that all three of the sets of prints seemed to lead in the same direction. On closer examination, he realized that while two of them led into the clearing, the other led out. If he had to guess, he’d say that the prints belonged to Shannon and Mira. The indentations in the dirt and mud were the right size to be theirs, and based on what Taylor knew had led up to this point, it made perfect sense. That meant that the others were Lucas’s, a fact of which Taylor grew more certain as he noticed the deeper impressions in the right side of the single tracks. But why had Lucas run in the opposite direction when Mira started chasing Jim? It didn’t make sense if they were working together… Unless they weren’t. Mira had told Taylor over the radio that she wanted contact with 2149 again. Maybe in her insanity, she had forced Lucas into helping her. He certainly was in no condition to fight back. Taylor sighed. If he could find Lucas, maybe he could use that to his advantage and get Lucas to help him find Mira. It was long past time for Terra Nova to be rid of the scourge of the Sixers’ leader.

He had been following the trail through the jungle and now came upon an abandoned rover parked in the middle of the trail. He frowned and looked around, but there was no one in sight. Then he caught a glimpse of a rocky outcropping off to his left and nodded to himself as he realized where he was in relation to Outpost Seven. This must be Shannon’s rover that had gotten damaged during the storm. Taylor strode forward, tracks forgotten for the moment. If he could just inspect the underbelly of the vehicle, maybe he could get it going again. Sure beat footing it back to the colony, and it’d save a maintenance crew from having to come all the way out to retrieve it later.

The sight of a figure stepping around the rover stopped him in his tracks.

“Hello, Father.” Lucas lifted a pistol, smiling as it powered up with a whine. “Nice to see you again.”

“Lucas!” Taylor looked his son up and down. “You don’t look so good, son.”

“Well, maybe that’s because, I don’t know, _I got shot_!” Lucas yelled. “Not to mention that my father beat me to a pulp right before that.”

Taylor shook his head. “You brought that on yourself.”

“See?” Lucas snarled, his voice rising in pitch as his furor grew. “You can never admit when you do anything wrong, can you? It’s always got to be someone else’s fault. Not yours. Never yours. Never the _great_ Nathaniel Taylor’s fault!” He laughed maniacally.

Sighing heavily, Taylor felt his heart sinking as he watched the madman his son had become. Then he pushed away those thoughts and focused on Lucas. Right now, all that mattered was bringing this man who had caused so much pain and loss to justice -- regardless of familial relationship. “Lucas, listen to me --”

“No. No, you listen to me,” Lucas snapped. “I really want to shoot you right here, right now, but I’m going to let you go. And you know why? Because I’m a man of restraint. I can’t give you the death you deserve at the moment; you’d take me down in the condition I am right now -- which is thanks to you, of course. But once I’ve recovered… Ohhh, once I’ve recovered, you will pay, Taylor. You will pay for every second of every day that I have suffered because of you.”

“You won’t get far,” Taylor warned, choosing to ignore the rest of Lucas’s rant. “I’ve tracked you this far; I’ll track you again.”

Lucas shrugged. “On foot, maybe. But I think I’ll do all right with a mechanical advantage.” He kept his gun pointed at Taylor as he walked backward to the rover.

“Lucas, you can’t take that rover.”

“I really don’t think you’re in a position to give me orders,” Lucas shot back. “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, old man.”

Taylor shook his head firmly. “No, you don’t understand. It’s damaged. You won’t get ten feet in that thing.”

Laughing out loud, Lucas reached inside the hood and fiddled with something Taylor couldn’t see. “Seriously, this is getting pathetic. Just shut up.”

“Lucas --” Whatever Taylor was about to say was interrupted as the rover’s engine rumbled to life.

“There.” Lucas grinned widely. “Doesn’t seem like this rover’s damaged at all. Oh,” he tsked, “were you trying to keep me from stranding you out here?” He shook his head as if correcting a small child. “Looks like you failed -- again -- Taylor.”

“Lucas, no!” Taylor shouted as his son climbed into the driver’s seat. He started forward, ignoring the fact that Lucas had a gun and thinking only to save his son from what he knew in his gut was about to happen.

But it was too late.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, and all Taylor could do was watch helplessly. The engine roared as Lucas accelerated into gear. Gravel spit out from the tires as they spun, and then they gained traction, and the rover started down the road. It had barely moved when a loud, grinding noise sounded from somewhere underneath it. The vehicle fishtailed, its speed increased at a dangerous rate as it swerved to the right. Then its front end came up as it hit a fallen log that lay just beside the path. The jolt when it came back down to the ground blew out the front tire and sent the vehicle into a tailspin that ended suddenly and severely in the thick trunk of a nearby tree.

“Lucas!” Taylor screamed, running for the wreckage. His side flared up in pain as he sprinted, but he ignored it. He had to get to Lucas. He had to see if Lucas was okay. He had to --

He felt himself being thrown halfway across the clearing as the entire vehicle erupted in a ball of fire.

* * *

_Terra Solace_

Henry stood back and surveyed the scene in front of him. He winced as the back of his boot rubbed against the blisters on his heel, but he ignored it as he had been doing for the better part of the past week.

“Pretty good looking, isn’t she?” Dorchester asked, limping up to stand next to Henry. The older man leaned on his crutch and smiled at Henry. “I may not have been able to help with the actual shipbuilding with this leg of mine…” He shook his head. “Can’t believe I didn’t see that hole. But hey, at least I put my hands to good work in the meantime, eh?”

Chuckling, Henry shook his head. “I have to hand it to you, Dorchester. I didn’t know you were so handy with a chisel.”

“Well, I wasn’t always a physicist, you know,” Dorchester told him with a wink. “My old grandfather taught me a thing or two about woodworking back in the day. I still can’t believe so many of our team were able to step up and build that thing.” He stood back and studied the wide expanse of water. “You still think this is the way to go?”

Henry sighed. “Well, as sure as I can be.” He gave the other man a long look. “What else can we do? It’s too far to hike around the lake; this’ll get us there quicker. Beyond that… who knows?”

The weight of a hand on his shoulder brought his attention from where he was staring across the lake back to Dorchester’s warm eyes. “Henry, you’re doing a fine job of leading us,” the man said. “This is uncharted territory; there’s no guidebook to any of this.”

“Thanks, Dorchester.” Henry returned the other man’s smile. “That means a lot.”

“All right then. Let’s get this vessel launched, shall we?”

The two men made their way down to the shoreline where the rest of their team was waiting. As they went, Henry squinted up at the sky. A line of dark clouds was starting to roll in, and Henry wasn’t sure how bad it was going to get. There was no way to predict weather patterns in this prehistoric age; hopefully, it would just blow over, and they would find Terra Nova on the other side. Otherwise, he dreaded to think what would happen if a storm caught up with their inexperience in sailing on such a wide expanse of water.

* * *

_Terra Nova_

“Jim.”

The quiet voice brought him back to the present, and he slowly opened his eyes. Everything had gone all blurry, so he closed them and then opened them again. That seemed to help, and he blinked slowly as his surroundings came into focus.

“There you are. Welcome back, sleepy head.” Elisabeth’s soft words came from somewhere nearby, and he turned in the direction of her voice. She was sitting in a chair next to his bed, worry creasing her forehead as she studied him up and down. “How are you feeling?”

“Um…” He trailed off as he paused to take stock of everything. “I think I’ll live.”

She didn’t look impressed. “How are you feeling?” she repeated.

“Like I got shot.”

If he hadn’t been lying in a hospital bed, he was pretty sure his wife would have swatted his shoulder for that. “You did.”

He grinned lazily at her. “Don’t worry, Liz. I’ve had worse.”

“Yes, and don’t forget, I’ve been the one who patched you up every time.”

Someone cleared their throat from a few paces away, and Jim turned to see Malcolm standing in the makeshift doorway that the curtain around Jim’s bed created from the rest of the room. “What were you thinking anyway, Jim? Getting yourself shot and stressing out your poor wife. You could have been killed!”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that, thank you, Malcolm,” Jim grumbled. Elisabeth gave him a look, which he ignored. “It’s not like I got shot on purpose anyway,” he added, ignoring the fact that the statement made him sound a little childish. He couldn’t care less about how he sounded; besides, Malcolm was scolding him for something that was completely not his fault -- and was none of the other man’s business -- so really, which one of them was being the child at the moment?

Malcolm raised his hands and shot a sideways look at Elisabeth, as if pleading for help.

She tried to hide the smirk playing at the corners of her lips, but with little success. “Jim.”

Malcolm looked less than pleased. “I’m just, ah, showing some friendly concern for you two.” He shook his head. “Besides, you shouldn’t be getting worked up right now anyway; it’s not good for your blood pressure.”

“I’ll decide what’s best for my blood pressure.”

“No, _I’ll_ decide,” Elisabeth broke in, giving her husband a stern look. She was using her no-arguments tone, and Jim knew better than to try to protest any further. Patting his leg, she stood and turned to the other occupants of the room and waved her hands at them. “Now come on; everyone out. He needs his rest.”

“But --”

She shook her head. “No ‘but’s. Out.” She herded the small group away from Jim’s bed and followed, pulling the curtain closed behind her. Just before she moved her hand, she looked back and smiled. “Get some rest, honey.” And then she let the curtain fall closed.

Her footsteps receded, and Jim smiled to himself, even as he let the exhaustion that had been hovering over him win out. There were still many problems the colony would be facing in the very near future, but for now… For now, he just wanted to sleep for a few million years and sort it all out later.

* * *

“Hey, Josh,” Boylan’s accent carried above the chatter and laughter of the bar’s patrons, “why don’t you cut out early tonight and head on home?”

Josh looked up from where he was wiping a pint glass dry behind the counter. “What? Why? We’re still really busy.” He looked around the full room pointedly.

Coming over to stand beside the young man, Boylan put a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, I know.” He shrugged. “But I was thinking your mother might appreciate the help at the house, hm?”

“Yeah…” Josh sighed heavily.

Boylan gave him a long look. “Josh,” he started, “I, uh, I know this is hard for you. After what happened with your dad before and now again. But hey, he’s doing better right?”

Josh just shrugged.

“Maybe you’re not the only one with that all on your mind, hm?” Boylan continued. “And maybe, rather than avoiding the house because you don't want to think about it, you should do what you can to ease your mother’s mind.” Then he grinned and stepped back. “But what do I know? I’m just an old barkeeper.” He tapped his temple and then lowered that hand to point at Josh, winked, then headed off for a small group of soldiers who had just taken seats at one of the far tables.

After a moment’s pause, Josh slung the towel over a hook on the wall and rounded the counter. He offered a wave as he strode past Boylan. “See you tomorrow!” he called.

If he had been looking behind him, he would have seen Boylan’s smile as the man watched him go.

Josh strolled down the path with his hands in his pockets, glancing around at the structures that were slowly but surely being repaired. In the moonlight, it was almost possible to pretend everything looked normal and that the war they had fought had never actually happened. He took a deep breath, wincing slightly as the movement aggravated his side. As much as he tried to forget what had happened during that long week, he knew he’d never be able to shake it. Not fully. He gritted his teeth. The one thing he didn’t regret was taking Lucas Taylor head on. Even though he hated what had come after, both for what it had meant for himself and then for his father when Jim had come to his rescue, it had been incredibly satisfying to lay into Lucas the way he had.

Lost in his thoughts, Josh didn’t even see Skye until she tapped him on the shoulder.

“Earth to Josh.” She chuckled as Josh jumped in surprise. “You okay?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry,” he apologized. “Just thinking.”

Skye smirked at that as she fell into step beside him. “Well, no kidding, genius.”

Grinning despite himself, Josh winked at her. “Okay, okay. It’s just…” He sighed and his smile faded.

“Ah.” Skye grew serious as well. “A lot’s happened lately, huh?”

“I mean… I knew we were in for a huge change when we came here, but then life was just starting to get close to perfect. And then everything had to change -- again,” he blurted out.

“Mm.” Skye made a noise of agreement as she waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, she looked up at him. “I mean, stuff always is changing. That’s just a part of life, you know? I guess the trick is what we do with it once it does.”

They both grew silent then, letting the chirping of nighttime insects fill the space in between them as they continued down the path. Moments later, they’d reached one of the residential neighborhoods and paused at one of the homes, where Josh knew his family would be just inside.

“Well, I’ll see you around, Josh,” Skye offered.

“Wait, Skye.” His comment stopped her, and she turned back around to face him, quirking an eyebrow and waiting for him to continue. “I, uh… Do you want to come in for dinner?”

“You sure your mom won’t mind?”

“No,” he replied simply, remembering not long before when his mother had suggested inviting Skye over herself.

“Okay then.” She smiled at that. “I would love to.”

There was a brief pause, and Josh shifted uncomfortably. “O...kay then. Come on in.”

Skye laughed and followed him along the flagstones to the front door.

* * *

The next afternoon, after much cajoling and not a little begging, Jim convinced Elisabeth he was feeling well enough to leave the hospital. She hadn’t seemed very happy with the idea, but when he’d threatened to leave on his own if she said no, she had sighed and conceded with the stipulation that he wear a sling and let her know the _moment_ he felt even a little dizzy.

The sun was just starting to start its descent toward the treeline as Jim slowly made his way to Taylor’s building. The colony seemed to be back to normal -- or as normal as it could be, under the circumstances -- with colonists scurrying here and there on various errands or heading home from work details. Merchants were packing up their stands at the market, and Jim paused to let an older woman wheel a wooden cart past him down the path.

“Mr. Shannon!” Skye’s voice made him turn. She was standing near the stairs to Taylor’s headquarters, and she straightened from where she had been leaning against the railing. “Are you okay? Josh said you’d been shot!” Her eyes searched him as if she was worried he’d collapse right there in the street.

“I’m fine, thanks, Skye.” Jim offered her a reassuring smile. “It’ll take a lot more than a stray bullet to take me down.”

“Uh huh.” She didn’t look convinced, but she let it go. “Okay then.”

He winked and then started up the steps. It felt like it took an eternity for him to ascend the entire staircase, and he felt as if everyone around was staring as he did, but he finally reached the top and pushed open the door.

Taylor looked up from where he was seated at the table. “Shannon!” He stood and hurried around to pull out a second chair. “Sit down, man; why are you up already?”

“Everyone keeps asking me that,” Jim cracked.

Shaking his head, Taylor moved back to his own seat. “Well, I can’t argue with your spirit, that’s for sure.” There was a smile on his face, but Jim could see something else in his eyes.

Jim knew what it was too. “Taylor, I heard about Lucas.”

“Hm.” Taylor’s response was more of a grunt.

Jim sighed as he watched the commander. Mark Reynolds had come to see him in the hospital that morning, once Elisabeth was letting anyone other than the medical staff past the curtain. He’d told the other man about Taylor’s current distracted state, catching him up on what had taken place after Taylor had sent the rest of the party to take Jim back to the hospital immediately. They conversed in low tones as Reynolds had conveyed how Taylor had grabbed an extinguisher from the outpost and put out the fire, but it was too late. How, having heard the sound of the fiery explosion from where they had been traveling through the jungle, Mark and Reilly had sent the others on and rushed to Taylor’s aid. How the two of them had found Taylor bent over Lucas’s body… and here Reynolds had paused, and Jim had prompted him to continue with the promise of never telling Taylor where he’d found out, at which Reynolds had shared just how pain-stricken the commander had been.

“I’m sorry,” Jim said simply. He paused a moment, then pressed on when Taylor continued to stare at the table in front of him. “I know… I know you must be blaming yourself for what happened,” he said. “But Taylor, you did everything you could. Honestly, you did more than most people would have. I know you don’t want to hear this, but the only one to blame is Lucas himself.”

Taylor looked up at that.

“He committed untold crimes against Terra Nova. Against you. Taylor, you have to stop focusing on this accident. You’ll never move ahead if you’re stuck in the past.” Jim sighed heavily. “I’m sorry about Lucas, really I am. But…” And here he trailed off and glanced meaningfully out of the window, pausing long enough for Taylor to notice and follow his gaze. Looking over at Taylor, Jim nodded toward where Skye was still leaning against the railing that led up to Taylor’s headquarters. “Don’t make the same mistakes with the rest of your family,” he finished quietly.

* * *

“Mommy, Mommy!” Zoe jumped off of the couch next to Jim and rushed to meet Elisabeth, who was closing the door behind her.

“Well, hello, sweetie,” Elisabeth greeted, bending to give her daughter a hug. “How was your day, hm?”

Zoe grinned up at her. “It was good! Well, maybe not school,” she amended, then added, “but recess was fun.”

Chuckling, Elisabeth straightened and ruffled Zoe’s hair. “Of course.” Elisabeth looked over and winked at Jim, who was watching the two in amusement from his seat. “Feeling better?” she asked as Zoe scampered off.

“All good here,” he responded, waving off her concern. He started to stand to greet her, but she crossed her arms. “Stay put, Jim; I’m sure you haven’t been resting like you need to.”

His guilty look was all the answer that she needed.

There was a pattering of feet as Zoe ran back in from her room. “Mommy, look what Hannah gave me at school today!” She waved a small bundle of cloth at Elisabeth. “It’s a doll!” she announced happily.

“Oh yeah?” Elisabeth asked, shooting a sly look at her husband. “Well, you know what, Zoe? I think that might just come in handy for you to get some practice this summer.”

Zoe wrinkled her nose and looked at her mother in confusion. “Practice?”

Meanwhile, Jim had sat up a little straighter in his seat. “Liz…”

Smiling broadly, Elisabeth nodded. “Yes, Zoe, because you’re going to have to be a good helper when the new baby comes.”

“We’re getting a baby?” Zoe sounded confused.

“You think you can be a good big sister?”

Whatever Zoe replied was interrupted as Jim grabbed his wife from behind in a hug. She tried to avoid squishing his arm as best as she could, but he didn’t even seem to notice.

“Oh, Elisabeth, I love you,” he told her, pulling back from the hug only to kiss her on the lips. “This is the best news I’ve heard all week!”

She smiled and looked him in the eyes lovingly before leaning in for another long kiss.

“Ew.” Zoe’s quiet remark made them pull apart, laughing.

Jim’s brow furrowed as he seemed to connect the dots. “Is this why Malcolm was so upset at me in the hospital yesterday?”

“Mmm. It might be,” Elisabeth replied with a wink, her arm still around his shoulder.

Then he frowned. “Wait, you mean you’ve known all this time? You mean _Malcolm_ knew before me? Why didn’t you didn’t tell me sooner?”

“I was going to tell you before, but you were a little… preoccupied,” she said with a meaningful glance at his sling. “At first, you were missing, and then I was just worried about you, and once you woke up, I didn’t want to get you excited, and then no time really seemed right…”

Jim interrupted her with another kiss. “I guess I can’t argue with that.”

“No you can’t,” she told him with a wink. Then she turned to Zoe with a grin. “Now, let’s see about supper, why don’t we?”

* * *

_2164_

“Do you think this will work? I mean, it obviously didn’t last time,” the dark-haired woman said. “I mean, look at what the world’s like today. Nothing’s gotten better; they must not have found Taylor. They --”

Turning to meet the anxious gaze of the woman standing beside her, Sienna gently interrupted her rambling. “Well, there’s only one way to find out,” she grinned. When that failed to relieve any of the stress on the other woman’s face, Sienna put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s been three years; I think we’ve worked out all of the bugs.”

“But…”

“I know it’s been hard,” Sienna acknowledged as she turned to face the rest of the small team.

There were fifteen men and women gathered in the warehouse, all with packs strapped to their backs, several with weapons in hand. Others stood near rolling containers that were sealed tightly and ready to be transported out. Nodding in agreement, they watched the young woman as she spread her arms to either side.

“We’ve all made sacrifices. We’ve all lost people in this endeavor, whether because we had to push them away for the sake of the project or…” she paused. “Or because they vanished into the past or were arrested. But look at how far we’ve come! Look what we have been able to accomplish together. We’ve worked hard, we’ve started over from scratch more than once, and now our work is finally paying off.” She glanced around from face to face and smiled, then reached for the console behind her to punch a button.

A portal opened up with a _whoosh_ , letting a gust of air into the room as it ballooned out and then gathered itself into one large, blueish wormhole.

Sienna grinned in satisfaction. “Now what do you say we go save the world?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for hanging with us for this ride! We hope you enjoyed the story!


End file.
